


Fishbowl

by bluebluewater



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Established Relationship - kustard, M/M, kustard - Freeform, mermaid au, surface AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:47:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 27,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24034540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluebluewater/pseuds/bluebluewater
Summary: Papyrus leaps at the chance to help his father with important work, but when he arrives at his childhood house something he wasn't at all expecting is waiting for him. Torn between his morals and the want for a closer relationship with Gaster, Papyrus has to help the small mermaid living in his pool.(Rating may change, not sure where this is going quite yet)
Relationships: Sans/Sans (Undertale)
Comments: 167
Kudos: 176





	1. introduction

**Author's Note:**

> See end notes for warnings.

Papyrus had never been very close with his dad. It wasn’t that he was cruel or neglectful, quite the opposite. He was well cared for, growing up in a large house with anything he could want. However, his father was very emotionally distant. Sure, if he had a problem he could go to his father, who would do his best to listen and provide feedback, but he always seemed slightly uncomfortable and out of touch with children. Which is fair, seeing as how Papyrus was an accident. 

Gaster had always preferred to keep his distance from people. The one time he didn’t, he managed to get pregnant. The partner he had taken was a one time thing; his father hadn’t been interested in telling him. He carried the child to term and when Papyrus was born, he kept him still. He may not have wanted a child, but Papyrus was his. So he did love Papyrus, truly he did; parenting just didn’t come naturally to him. 

Papyrus was quite lonely during his childhood, despite his father’s best efforts. He often bounced from extracurricular activity to extracurricular activity, hoping each one would bring him friends, but he had never fit in. Maybe it was his social skills. He always talked too loud, was always moving, was very blunt at times and clueless at others. Maybe it was just him, his personality. He always strove to be kind and helpful but perhaps he was too overbearing instead. 

So in his adult years, when his father invited him back to his childhood home to consult on a project he was working on, he eagerly jumped on the chance. He had never been allowed into his lab as a child, too dangerous, apparently. He did know his father did very important work though. That’s why he was the Royal Scientist. 

Pulling into the neatly paved driveway, Papyrus parked his red sports car, a gift from his father. He had no idea what to expect as he unlocked the front door. His father had never specified, simply stating that it was urgent. 

Stepping into the foyer, he called out, receiving no reply. Moving to the intercom on the wall, he pressed the button and called again. There was no answer from the speaker, but his phone chimed with a text from his father, telling him to come out back. 

The backyard was about an acre, with large trees lining the edges, perfect for climbing. There were gardens, properly maintained by the caretakers. He’d always slipped outside during nap time to watch them work, hoping to help. He was never allowed, but occasionally the gardeners took pity on him and let him sample some of the fresh veggies. The carrots were always his favorite. 

Tucked into one corner of the yard was a large, above ground pool. His father was standing nearby, balancing on the ladder leading up to the water, frantically writing something down. 

“Father!” Papyrus smiled, racing over to him. Gaster looked back at him, giving a small smile before turning back to his work. 

“Ah, hello, son. How was the drive?” 

Instead of answering, Papyrus gasped and raced over to him. His face and coat were scratched and torn. He didn't seem to be dusting anywhere, but the sight was still worrying. "What happened?!"

Again his father turned to him, a more mischievous smile on his cracked face. “Come take a look. Be careful not to get too close, though.”

Papyrus scrambled up next to his father, the ladder slightly too thin for both of them. Standing a rung lower than his father he moved to heal him but was instead directed again to the pool. He gripped the side and hesitantly peeked over, his father’s reassuring hand on the collar of his shirt. 

There, at the bottom of the pool, about four feet down, was a mermaid pressed against the side of the pool, glaring up at them. 

The mermaid was the skeleton kind, their magic a stunning bright cyan, matching the surrounding water. Through the sun glinting off the surface of the pool it was hard to see, but their sockets seemed large and round, white pips of magic within pointed right at them. 

“...Father,” Papyrus said breathlessly, “what….. where did you find them?” 

Mermaids were extremely rare, so rare in fact, that many didn’t believe they still existed. Sightings were few and far, far in between. They were supposedly a hybrid between two to three types of monsters, one of whom being a special type of fish monster that no longer existed in modern days. And to see one in his old backyard was astounding. 

“I found them in the shallows off the coasts of the Ebott Seas, a few hours from here,” he said with an excited gleam in his eye - the one he always got when he was close to a breakthrough. 

“Wowie!” Papyrus beamed. “How did you convince them to come with you? And what about their family!? Group? Uh, school?”

“Oh, I didn’t,” his father said simply, turning back to peer into the waters distractedly. Papyrus’ expression dropped in dawning horror as he continued. “Their pod weren’t nearby, as far as I could tell. They were sunbathing on the shore, around the back of the island where no one would see them. Well,” he laughed, as if this were all normal, “no one but me. I was very lucky to be sailing nearby at the time.” 

“Father… you can’t. You can’t just kidnap people!” he exclaimed incredulously. 

“I haven’t kidnapped anyone!” Dr. Gaster turned to fix him with a disappointed look. “I’m simply keeping them here until I find a way to communicate, to explain what I’m trying to accomplish. I’m certain that once they know they’ll be willing to help me.” He sighed, leaning against the rim of the pool, staring down at the mermaid. “Unfortunately I cannot communicate with them.” he smiled ruefully. “I’ve tried hands, but they don’t seem to understand. I’m afraid they’re closer to fish than skeleton.”

His father’s font was hard to understand by anyone other than a skeleton. Not to say it was impossible, but it took a lot of time and effort. It was frustrating more often than not so Dr. Gaster simply used hands with those that needed. If the mermaid didn’t understand either, their language must be completely different than skeletons now.

“So, you’d like me to try and talk to them?” Papyrus was doubtful. “Maybe a fish monster would work better?” He climbed down the ladder, stretching his legs. 

“Son,” Gaster quickly followed, grasping his shoulders firmly. “You’re the only one that can do this. You have to understand how important my work is. To study a mermaid’s SOUL could progress my research in leaps and bounds. This could help so many people, Papyrus. I’m afraid others wouldn’t understand. They’d put a stop to this before I can even begin.”

Papyrus was tense underneath his hands. This just wasn’t right but looking into his father’s eyes he saw the resolve and knew he believed in what he was saying. His father dedicated the past 45 years of his life to the study of the SOUL. His goal was to find a way to bring monsters back from falling, something believed to be impossible. He knew his father truly wanted to help people, he just wasn’t sure how holding a mermaid against their will would help.

As if sensing his doubt, his father let go of his shoulders to instead grip his hands. His face grew less wild and more pleading. This was honestly the most expressive Papyrus had ever seen the man. “I know this will help in so many ways,” Gaster continued. “I just need to communicate with them. Anytime I get close they try to drown me.”

Casting a glance back at the metal side of the pool, Papyrus sighed. He supposed if they could find a way to explain to the mermaid their intentions, and the mermaid agreed to stay, there would be no harm in it. However, if it was clear they couldn’t get through to them, or they didn’t want to stay here to help. Well. Papyrus loved his father dearly and wanted to please him but. This was another monster’s life.

“Okay.” Looking back at his father he nodded resolutely. “But you need to understand. If they don’t want to be here I can’t keep them. And…” he hesitated, not wanting to upset the man who raised and loved him all these years. “I couldn’t stand for you keeping them either.”

Gaster’s mouth twitched downward but he nodded, relaxing his grip and stepping out of his space. “I understand. Thank you. Now there are a few things I should warn you about."

Standing at the edge of the ladder once again, Papyrus stared nervously into the depths. The mermaid was still resting at the bottom. Their head had been resting in their arms but as soon as they noticed him at the surface they tensed back into a defensive stance. Papyrus shuddered at the sight of their bared fangs. Sure he had a set of his own, but this monster was clearly ready to use them. 

His father had also warned him about their claws, much sharper than his own, hence the scratches on his father. Physical damage posed much more of a risk than the threat of drowning. Magical was still to be questioned though, as no one knew what their abilities still entailed. Anytime someone had supposedly gotten close to one they had simply swam away.

Skeletons, luckily, were a species of monster that didn’t need much air. All SOULs needed some sort of magical charge, which carried much more easily through air than water, but depending on the species, you could stay under for quite a while. Not to say it was impossible for a normal monster to live their entire life underwater, just that it wouldn’t be a very good one, even for a fish monster. Papyrus wondered if mermaids had evolved to live completely underwater and still function normally or if they still came to the surface for air.

It was times like these Papyrus was grateful he could heal so well. He took a calming breath and without further ado, he stepped over the rim of the pool and eased himself into the water.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> referenced kidnapping, result of kidnapping, nothing too violent yet


	2. meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> detailed warnings in end notes

His entire body was tensed, ready to be jumped the second he sunk into the water. However, the mermaid stayed curled in the corner. He heard a muted hissing noise surrounding him. Smiling gently at the mermaid, he waved and the hissing grew momentarily louder. 

Papyrus looked up to check if his father was there like he had said he would be. Sure enough, his dad once again stood on the ladder looking down at them, ready with his magic at the first sign of trouble. Reassured, he took a loping step toward them.

The closer he got, the tighter their body curled, getting ready to strike. The hiss had rolled into a low rumble, their fangs bared wickedly. He stopped about three feet away, lowering himself to sit cross legged on the pool’s smooth bottom. A perk of being a skeleton: they pretty much sank as soon as they were in water. Unless you had blue or purple magic, it was hard to get back to the surface. 

Up close, Papyrus could make out more details. Their cyan magic was freckled with gold flecks, as were their bones, dotted along their body. The magic of their tail ran up into their ribcage and stopped at their clavicles. They were hunched forward with their back up, so it was harder to see but he thought he saw some pectoral fins along their stomach, while along their back ran a longer, flowy dorsal fin starting at their lower spine. They seemed to be smaller than him, rounder as well. He wasn’t sure if they were below average size for a mermaid. What worried him though, was the shredding of their tail fin. A large tear ran about halfway up the beautiful fin. He couldn’t tell if it was new or old but you definitely couldn’t miss it. 

“What happened to you?” he attempted to ask. His voice came out muted, he wasn’t sure if the other could even hear him. Their rumbling quieted, though they were still glaring, on the defensive. “Did- did my father do this to you?”

He couldn’t see any more wounds from the angle they were at but he so desperately wanted to know. If his father had hurt them he wasn’t sure it was in their best interest to stay, even if they agreed. He wasn’t sure how he would tell his father, talk him out of keeping them. Because despite his father’s words, he wasn’t close to him, didn’t know if he could keep his word or not. He loved his father dearly but he just couldn’t be sure.

“I can heal you,” he offered, tilting his head at them. They remained as they were, not giving any indication they could understand him. “Y’know… heal?” he let his hands glow with magic, offering them to the mermaid. 

Finally, there was a spark of interest in their eyesockets. Their hands ran down from their arms where they had them to their ribcage then finally curled around their stomach. They seemed to consider his legitimacy and he tried his best to look nonthreatening, his hands raised placidly. Inch by inch, they uncurled, waiting for a sign he would strike. 

When no attack came, they slowly crawled their way to him, their tail flipping uselessly behind them. They stopped within arms length, turning so their tail was facing him, arms still wrapped around themself. He gently lowered his hands to their fin, stilling their flinch when he made contact. He ran his fingers along the tear, frowning thoughtfully. He wasn’t sure what had made this. It could’ve been an attack, a trap of some kind. He wished he could speak to them, to find out if- to find out what his father had done. 

They grew impatient, flicking their tail at him and he smiled weakly at them in apology before getting to work. His hands warmed with healing magic, and they hissed in alarm when it spread through their fin, but didn’t pull away. His fingertips gently traced along the tear, willing it to heal, pouring his SOUL into it, wishing them to be safe. 

As it knit together, the mermaid observed him. Papyrus tried not to be off put by it, but he was a little unnerved, unsure of their intentions. Their SOUL was locked down tight; he couldn’t feel anything from them. 

Papyrus was careful not to go too fast; it could be very disconcerting if done too quickly. He watched as the thin flesh near the bottom grew together again. They really had a beautiful tail. The lines of magic that ran throughout the tail once again swirled through the fin uninterrupted, sparkling slightly as manna once again travelled their synthetic veins. 

When he let go, satisfied with his work, the mermaid darted away, settling once again in their corner, glaring suspiciously. They looked down at their tail, giving it a few test flaps. “Is there any pain left?” he asked, his brows furrowing at the weird quality of his voice. They returned to staring at him and he gestured to his arms and ribs. “Hurt?” he tried. 

Instead of replying in any sort of capacity, they instead slowly swam around him, careful to stay a good distance away. It seemed they were sizing him up. Papyrus stayed as still as he could, content to let them explore. He only flinched when he felt the tips of their claws prick at the back of his vertebrae. It didn’t hurt, only startling at it’s suddenness. 

His SOUL swelled with affection when he heard a curious little chirp. He realized they were looking at the thin scar that wrapped around his neck. His scarf usually covered it, but he hadn’t wanted to get it wet (that and the fact that he could be strangled with it).

“It’s okay!” he turned his head to smile at them. “It doesn’t hurt!” They had backed up when he turned, the look on their face still guarded. He waited patiently for them to begin their exploring again, but instead they pointed up to the surface. “You… want to go up?” he guessed. They looked to where his father was standing, then pointed at him instead. “Oh, it’s okay. That’s my father. He doesn’t mean any harm. Or. well. Any more harm, I guess,” he muttered, disappointed in him. 

They seemed frustrated, unable to communicate what they wanted, unable to understand him. Slowly, they reached for his hand, surprised when he let them take it. He smiled gently and they started to swim backward, him in tow. 

They made sure to stay far away from Gaster, but surfaced with him. They glared at the doctor, then tugged on Papyrus’ hand and pointed out into the backyard. He looked to find what they were pointed at, then realized they were trying to point beyond, most likely in the direction of the beach. He wasn’t sure where it was but he doubted they would be interested in anything else. 

“Father,” he called, “I don’t think they can understand me. They only respond to my gesturing.”

The mermaid hissed when his father spoke. “That’s disappointing. Perhaps we could teach them our language? They at least seem to be of some level of intelligence.” 

Papyrus bristled slightly at the jab at their intelligence. Maybe his father also wasn’t good with social cues? Giving him the benefit of the doubt, he hesitated before saying, “Well. They seem to want to leave. I don’t think it’d be fair to keep them until they understand us?”

“Son,” Gaster said impatiently, “We can’t just give up at the first sign of resistance!” 

“Yes! We can!” Papyrus yelled indignantly. “Resistance means no! No means no!!” He didn’t understand how his father didn’t get it, it was a simple concept. “Resistance means you’re holding them against their will! This isn’t right!” The mermaid sank back in the water until only their eyes were visible, trained on Gaster. Papyrus turned his SOUL blue and held his head above water so he didn’t sink with them. 

“Look, I asked you here to help, Papyrus. I thought you’d understand. Maybe I just put too much pressure on you,” he sighed, pinching between his eyes. 

“Father, that’s not the issue-” he tried but began tearing up. He wasn’t very good at controlling his emotions, he often cried whenever angry. “I want to help, I do, this just isn’t right,” his voice broke on the last word.

“Okay, how about this. One more week. Just give me one more week to collect data. You can stay here and make sure they’re being taken care of, they clearly feel safe with you. This could help so many people, Papyrus. Don’t you want to be a hero?”

This was wrong. He knew it was. From the depths of his SOUL he knew he wanted to return the mermaid back. But…

A hero?

“Besides,” his father continued, seeing Papyrus hesitate, “I’m the Royal Scientist. My work is so, so important son. Anyone would see that a little bit of sacrifice outweighs the enormous benefit monsters will gain from this. No one even knew mermaids exist! We don’t know what they’re capable of!” 

Blue tears dripped from Papyrus’ cheekbones. The mermaid tightened their grip on his hand, making a low, mournful noise. “I- I need some time… to think.” He knew it was disgusting to even consider letting the mermaid stay here any longer, but there was so much he wanted from life. Was he really willing to let his morals slip to achieve it? 

“Of course my dear boy, all the time you need,” he smiled ruefully, offering a hand out to him. Papyrus started to swim towards him but was abruptly yanked below the surface. Startled, his magic slipped, his SOUL returning to it’s normal white. 

Scared that he was going to be pinned to the bottom, he started to struggle, but was let go once they were at the full 5 foot depth. The mermaid floated above him, their hands on his face, patting gently. Papyrus had to smile. 

“Oh, I’m alright,” he placed his hands on top of theirs. “I’m just emotional.” As if responding to their queue, more tears left his eyesockets, dispersing in the water around him. He sat up, the mermaid moving back to give him room. “I need to go up,” he pointed upward. Frowning, the mermaid shook their head, moving to shove him back again. Papyrus turned his SOUL blue again and flung himself back, but not up. The mermaid darted at him, arms outstretched for him but he conjured several bones in a row, blocking their advances. The mermaid screeched and flung themself back right before hitting them, giving him a shocked look.

“I’m sorry!” Papyrus called. “I really am! But I need to go to the surface!” he pointed up again. Their shocked look darkened into a glare again before the sulked off to the opposite edge of the pool. “I’ll come back soon!” he called after them, but they curled up in the corner, their back to him. “I’m sorry…” he said one last time, before he felt his father’s magic take hold of his SOUL, bringing him up line by line. 

Shaking the water out of his skull, a few more tears were shed before he was hauled out of the pool and down the ladder. “Come on, son,” his father patted his shoulder, leading him into the house. “We’ll try again later.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> injury, fear of drowning, manipulation


	3. understanding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See end notes for warnings. (big spoiler down there)

Skeletons dried easily, however, his clothes did not. He was guided down the long halls, dripping the entire way. He felt extremely bad, promising that he’d clean it up but his father simply waved it off. He was led to his father's room and handed a night gown. “Just until we get your stuff unpacked,” he was told. The gown was a bit tight around his shoulders and stopped about halfway up his femurs, but he thanked his father nonetheless. 

Following his father back into the hallway, he noticed the water was already cleaned up. Reminding himself to thank the help later, he made his way to the kitchen.

"Papyrus!" a warm voice cried. At the counter was his old nanny, Sipyon. 

"Sippy!" Papyrus ran to give him a warm hug, marveling at how nostalgic the feel of their plush fur. "I'm so sorry I didn't tell you I was coming! It completely slipped my mind!"

Sipyon and he still kept in touch, considering he pretty much raised him. However, they don’t meet much in person considering the drive. The skeleton was thrilled when he heard Sipyon remained hired once he left the house. They now worked as caretaker of the house. 

“Oh, you know it’s fine. It’s such a nice surprise to see you!” He smiled warmly up at him, patting his shoulders. "Are you back just to visit?"

Papyrus grimaced at the thought of his dad's work, glancing at the man. "Actually I'm here to help with some things. I'm not sure how long I'm staying, though."

“Well,” Sipyon clapped his shoulder once more before grabbing the food he was preparing, “We’d best make the most out of it, huh?”

“Is everyone else here?” He grabbed the dishes and brought them to the long table, setting everyone’s place. 

“I gave everyone two weeks vacation,” Gaster explained, setting the pot of stew on the table next to the freshly baked bread. "The groundskeepers are still here, but when everyone gets back they will get time off as well."

“I offered to stay,” Sipyon chuckled. “Glad I did, no vacation could trade seeing you again, Papyrus.” Papyrus smiled tearfully, projecting the same to Sip. 

As the three of them sat down to eat the meal Sip prepared they chatted amicably about what Papyrus has been up to the four years he’s been gone, how his job and schooling has been going, how his friends were doing. The sun was dipping in the sky by the time their food was gone. A yawn interrupted Papyrus’ story of the latest shenanigans he and Undyne got up to, and he covered his mouth, apologizing.

“Perhaps it’s time for bed,” Gaster suggested. His son nodded sleepily, standing to clear away his dishes. 

“I’ve got that, dear,” Sipyon shooed him away. “Off to bed for you, I’ll have a nice breakfast prepared in the morning.”

“You don’t have to baby me anymore,” Papyrus laughed as he yawned yet again.

“Maybe not, but I’m going to,” Sipyon brought the skeleton’s head down to kiss the top. “Goodnight Papyrus.”

His father walked him to his old room. He had long since taken everything with him when he moved, but his old bedsheets still remained. His father had clearly gotten the room ready for him, and as upset at him as he was, he was still touched. They wished each other goodnight and hugged. It was nice to be close with his father again.

Settling down underneath the feathery comforter, he breathed in the scent floral laundry detergent and slept. 

~*~*~

Morning came and Papyrus woke confused on why the roof of his flat looked different. Once he realized where he was he stretched, picking up his phone to check the time. 6:00 AM, his usual. Apparently even on vacation his internal alarm never failed. 

He returned to his car to unpack the rest of his clothes then got ready for the day. Briefly considering the weather, he picked jean shorts and a simple top. He did, however, don his scarf and gloves as always. 

Padding to the kitchen, he met Sipyon and helped them whip up a delicious breakfast. When Gaster came downstairs dressed in his usual slacks and button down shirt he looked a bit tired, as if he had stayed up all night. Papyrus remembered times when his father wouldn’t show up to meals, too caught up in his work. He’d stay awake for days, only sleeping when his body gave him no other choice. He was always shorter with his son on those days - not mean but simply had less time and patience for him. 

However today he simply offered a small smile before taking the coffee Sipyon held out for him. “I feed them three times a day, with visits in between for snacks, if they’ll take them,” he said in between sips. “If you’d like to feed them you can.”

“Here’s breakfast for our fishy friend,” the plush monster returned from the kitchen, setting a tray full of different kinds of seafood on the table: a mixture of plant and scaly life. “Fresh from the market.”

“Oh, you’ve... met them?” Papyrus asked while covering his nose to shield himself from the smell, dreading their answer. He loved Sipyon dearly, if they knew of the kidnapping and were perfectly okay with it, he’d be devastated. 

“No, no,” they sat down and tucked into their own food. “Dr. Gaster thinks it best I don’t meet them quite yet. Too many new people could upset them, and I wouldn’t want them to want to return home because I startled them!” 

Papyrus sighed in relief. So Sipyon didn’t fully know. He so badly wanted to ask them what he should do, but hasn’t gotten a chance alone with his friend yet. Perhaps he could ask this afternoon, after the mermaid’s meal. 

After finishing their food and coffee respectively, Papyrus and his father headed back outside to the pool. Peering down into the pool, he frowned when he noticed them in the exact same spot they were yesterday. Their head rested in their arms again, but this time they didn’t lift it, even when he thread his fingers through the water. 

“Father, they aren’t responding,” he looked down at his father, worry thick in his voice and his SOUL. 

“That happens occasionally,” he yawned. “Toss a fish in, near them. That usually works.” He handed a fish up to the skeleton. 

SOUL still pulsing with _worry_ and _regret_ , he threw it to them. The fish sank slowly, landing on their head. As soon as it made contact, the mermaid was a blur, snapping at the fish. They simply bit it in anger, then realized what it was. They took it in their claws and angrily tore it apart, glaring up at Papyrus. “Sorry!” he called. 

They slowly worked through the tray, tucking the bones of the sea creatures beneath their ribcage. Seeming to take more of an interest in the meat than the plants, they poked at some kelp before reluctantly eating it. When they had finished the entire tray, they rested their head back on their arms, paying Papyrus no more attention. 

The skeleton had brought more appropriate attire for the pool, swapping his outfit from earlier for a simple pair of shorts and a tank top. His gloves, which he had kept on to handle the slimy stuff, were shed then, given lovingly to his father, who set them with his other clothes on a table nearby. Sitting on the rim of the pool, he dipped his legs in, tense once again in preparation to be dragged in. Like the day before, they made no move toward him. 

His father climbed onto the ladder behind him and Papyrus slipped into the water. Turing his SOUL blue, he sank to the bottom of the pool, then loped over to the prone form. The mermaid turned their head away from him when he approached, so he hesitantly stepped closer. Slowly reaching out, he gently touched the very tips of his fingers to their shoulder. Already flinching from the slimy feeling covering their (and now his) bones, he was too slow, unprepared when they latched their teeth onto his forearm. 

He yelped, drawing his arm back and luckily, they didn’t follow. Growling low in their chest, the mermaid flattened themself as much as they could to the pool bottom. Papyrus felt a pulse of _alarm_ from his father, but he was quick to reassure. Gripping the wound, he noticed it was shallow, then the intent behind it. They hadn’t wanted to hurt, only startle. 

“I’m sorry, that was really rude of me,” Papyrus said needlessly. He also projected _reassurance_ and _sorrow_ to them, and that seemed to calm them slightly. They stopped growling and settled once more, regarding him suspiciously. The mermaid once again pointed up and Papyrus hesitated, not knowing what to do. He paused again before projecting _questioning_ at them. They seemed to misinterpret and pointed more aggressively at the surface. It was good they could understand him that way, but he still wasn’t getting anything back from them. Maybe mermaids were more distant with their SOULs than land dwelling monsters? 

Papyrus probed again, _questioning, favor, pleading_ and a final _sorrow, expectant_. They seemed overwhelmed by the influx of emotion and shrunk back, staring at him hard. And finally, finally he got an uncertain, small receptive, _sorrow_ feeling from them. 

They floated toward him, placing a gentle hand on his sternum, a pulse of _sad, anger_ flooding his SOUL. But not at him, or even mostly for them. It was for him. Just as he started to question if there was maybe still a miscommunication between them, they rotated so their belly faced toward him. Grabbing his hand, they placed it on their stomach, keening mournfully. A pulse of _understanding_ flooded him as he felt their hard stomach and he was hit with alarm like a brick to the face. 

The mermaid was pregnant. 

Startling back, the mermaid did as well, their SOUL closing off again aside from a quick shoot of _alarm!_ Papyrus started crying when they reflexively shielded their stomach as they had yesterday. Shoulders shaking, he tried to reassure them as they keened again before he couldn’t take it any more, flinging himself to the surface.

He climbed out of the pool, angrily waving his father away when he tried to help him, breaths coming in gasps as the water drained from his skull. Finally, he sobbed loudly. 

“Son?” Gaster tried again to reach out to him, only for Papyrus to shake his head and walk quickly inside, not bothering to grab his dry clothes. He wasn’t followed.

Papyrus was shaking, his mind racing and blank simultaneously. He didn’t know what he wanted or how to feel better - he only knew he needed to sit somewhere before he collapsed. Trying to make it back to his room, Papyrus realized he had gotten confused somewhere down the long maze-like hallways and, in his panic, couldn’t recognize where he was. Sobbing again, he finally moved to a wall to slide down, tucking his head between his legs and cried.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> papyrus gets bit. he finds out the mermaid is pregnant and has a panic attack/meltdown.


	4. perspective

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> detailed warnings in end notes.

sans was going to go insane. When no one was watching he swam the length of the pond, anxiously pacing, worrying about his mate, his eggs. It was too cramped in here, he felt too claustrophobic.

red had warned him - even if no one ever came out here, being this close to the surface was dangerous. They were already closer than usual, waiting for sans to spawn but sans requested to sunbathe and red could never resist him. The sun had felt so good on his aching tummy, he could tell his eggs enjoyed it too. red had been close, but was distracted hunting for his mate, who was almost always hungry. 

This close to his spawning, sans had no chance of fighting back. 

He had been dozing, unable to hear the near silent motor approach, unaware of the net until his mate surfaced, crying out a warning. A warning too late. sans had struggled, sure, clawing and biting at the strong cord. He was dumped on the deck of the boat spitting and hissing, scared out of his mind. Any interaction with landwellers never ended well. Mermaids never return once they’re caught, either eaten or sold for who knows what. As he was secured to the deck of the ship he wailed for his mate, whom he heard snarling, scratching at the side of the boat, attempting to impale the thick steel with magic. Sans continued to struggle until he could no longer hear the heartwrenching shrieks of his mate. red might be fast when needed but there was no way he could out swim a boat.

He cried as he was taken away from his mate. sans would never see red again. 

From the boat the person taking him attempted to lift him, only to be clawed in the face. Finally they stopped trying, dropping him to be dragged across the rough ground (luckily on his back) to another steel contraption, one he had never seen before. His tail snagged on a sharp rock, tearing through the center. Crying out in pain, he whimpered when the monster paused. When they tried to carry him again, he let them. As much as he didn’t want them near him, he couldn’t risk his babies getting hurt. 

The thing he was shoved into was very cramped, and he yelped when it rumbled to life. He was kept in here for a long time, the monster turning around often to splash water on him, which sans was extremely grateful for. Drying out was torture. Finally the contraption stopped moving and he was carried through long tunnels to a man made pond. 

The water stung when he was dropped in, burning his wounds, washing away most of his protective slime coat. He hissed and spat as he sank, unable to swim properly. He had crawled his way along the bottom, away from the monster, where he sulked for days. 

He was fed regularly, and though he’d prefer to eat nothing he needed to keep his strength to support his eggs. If he were to have a chance at getting back to red, no matter how slim, he’d need to be ready. All his more minor injuries healed with regular food, but his tail fin did not, and he mourned possibly never being able to swim normally again. 

It seemed the monster was attempting to maintain the small pond. They scraped leaves and debris off the top of the water, adding weird liquids and pounds of crystalline rocks to the water. Slowly, sans noticed the quality of water changing and felt that he could breathe a little easier. His slime coat was also regrowing. One day both small and large fish were added to the water: a bribe maybe? Either way, sans wasn’t interested. He couldn’t bring himself to even try to move, only eating when something was thrown to him. Eventually the fish died off and were removed. No further attempt was made. No matter how comfortable they were trying to make him, sans would always hate them for taking him from his love. 

The monster that took him occasionally entered the pond, trying to talk to him. sans had absolutely no idea what they were trying to say or gesture, so he kept to himself, only attacking if they got close, which they rarely did. 

Weeks went by in the same pattern, and day by day sans' hope lessened. He was seriously beginning to worry he'd lose his babies and fall down - but then he was visited by another landweller. 

This one looked vaguely similar to the first, but was a skeleton, like sans and his mate. Maybe the likeness swayed his feelings, or maybe it was their stunning emotions. Either way, he found himself trusting them more and let them heal his tail. He wasn’t sure if they were another person assigned to care for him, or if they were a captive like himself. He wished he could communicate with them, but was still scared of letting any projections reach them. Despite all his apprehension, he still found himself caring for the monster. He hoped his children would turn out to be half as sweet as this one.

When the monster started to return to the other at their instruction, he panicked and dragged them under, trying to keep them put.

“Stay here, please,” he begged. “I can keep you safe.” The scar on their neck, coupled with the tears hurt his SOUL. But they left him.

The next morning, to his joy, they returned. He was glad they were alright but was still very, very angry at them. They could’ve hurt his eggs, even if they hadn’t known. He was fed, once again eating everything. 

He felt them enter the pond and scowled, grumbling low in his throat. They touched his shoulder and he startled at how close they had gotten without him noticing. He snapped at them in warning, his instincts flaring to life. Shocked that he actually made contact, he assumed they would leave him again, but instead they apologized with their SOUL, surprising him once again. Then, they told him something that made his magic run cold. 

The monster was expecting. Expecting babies? He didn’t see any magic formed but landwellers probably just held their eggs differently. Then he was filled with anger. So they were another captive. What was the previous monster trying to do? Were they after pregnant creatures? Even their own kind? What was going to be done with the babies? 

sans tried to let the other know that he understood, he would help them however they needed but they suddenly felt so overwhelmingly guilty and sad. They left in a hurry, leaving him alone. Again. Wondering if he did something wrong.

So he paced around the perimeter of the pool, trying to come up with a plan. He couldn’t just lay down and give up anymore. This wasn’t just about his babies now. Even if his family no longer had a chance, the landweller could run. 

As the sun set once again, he felt the eggs shift again, then a shooting pain. He stopped, his eyelights shrinking. Although he desperately hoped it wasn’t true he knew in his SOUL.

He was in labor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> detailed description of the mermaids' kidnapping, mentions of people eating mermaids, endangerment of a pregnant person, the mermaid goes into labor


	5. deception

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> check end notes for warnings

“Papyrus?” a soft voice said, an even softer monster sitting next to him, careful not to touch. “Papyrus can you hear me?”

Papyrus had long since stopped sobbing hysterically and now only hiccuped occasionally, unwilling to move in his wet clothes. He nodded while still cradling his skull. 

“Oh, sweetheart,” Sipyon sighed. “Hold on, I’ll go get you some clothes.” It took them a few moments and when they returned Papyrus hesitantly changed, trying not to cry again at the feeling of his wet cold clothes. Sip had gotten him fuzzy pajamas and Papyrus rubbed the sleeve against his face appreciatively. “Can you talk?” he asked. Considering it, Papyrus opened his mouth and tried to speak but couldn’t. He shook his head and Sip nodded. “Okay, let’s get you into bed. Maybe you can tell me what happened there.”

Soon Papyrus was lovingly buried beneath his soft comforter. He would’ve preferred his bed back home, but this was a close second. Trying not to fall asleep was a difficult feat; he was always drained after a meltdown. Sipyon entered the room again with some hot chocolate, packed with calming intent. He helped Papyrus sit up to drink, and the skeleton sighed, only now realizing how much he had missed Sip. 

When he was finished he set the cup aside on the nightstand. “Thank you,” he signed. 

“Absolutely no problem,” they smiled, sitting on the bed. “Do you feel up to telling me what happened?”

“The mermaid is pregnant,” his breath hitched, a few stray tears falling onto his pillow. 

“Oh, that’s wonderful news,” Sipyon said, confusion evident. 

“No, it’s not. Sip, they were brought here against their will. They don’t speak our language at all.” The plush monster let out a quiet ‘oh’. “My father wants to study their SOUL, and I agreed to one more week. How could I do that?” he buried his face in his pillow. “I’m terrible.”

“Not terrible,” Sipyon stroked his skull. “I’m sure your father gave some good reasons, he can be pretty persuasive.”

“But there’s no good reason to keep an innocent against their will! I know better than that!” he sat up again, his signs hard. 

“Sweetheart, I’m not saying you’re wrong, but not everything is black and white. Be nicer to yourself. If I’m correct, you just found out they were pregnant, right? You didn’t have all the information. The point is, now you do, and you can always change your mind.”

“How do I convince my father, though,” he sniffled. “He’s convinced studying their SOUL will bring him closer to waking monsters that have fallen down.”

“Maybe it will. But your father is not a heartless person. I’m sure if he saw exactly how bad this was he would listen. He often gets blinded by his work.” Sipyon moved to lay down next to him, hugging Papyrus close. “Why don’t you sleep on it, and tomorrow we can figure something out.”

Nodding, Papyrus curled closer, taking comfort in their soft embrace, feeling like he was a child again. He yawned and hugged him back, dropping off to sleep. 

~*~*~

Something was wrong. Doctor Gaster had retrieved the mermaid’s food for the night, but when he went to go feed them, they seemed to be in pain. At the bottom of the pool they were curled in half, occasionally tensing and twitching. He dreaded going into the pool again but he couldn’t determine what the problem was from up here. 

Stripping off his clothes, he rubbed his face tiredly before stepping into the pool. He sank immediately and swam over to where the mermaid was resting. They hissed and snarled at his arrival but was cut off, squeezing their sockets shut as they let out a long reedy whine. He gently placed a hand on their spine, testing to see if they were able to attack. The mermaid growled but did nothing else, their growl cutting off to another whine. 

Gaster nudged at the mermaid's hands, who snarled and halfheartedly tried to snap at him. He was able to wrestle their hands away from their stomach and examined it. Something that had not been there before were the three faintly glowing lights in their belly. So not only had the mermaid been pregnant this whole time, but was now having contractions. He had promised Papyrus one more week of attempting to communicate, but clearly his timeline was going to be moved up. 

~*~*~

Papyrus woke up in the middle of the night thirsty, and on his way back from the kitchen he decided to check on the mermaid. But they were gone. 

He stared in disbelief at the empty pool, the water reflecting cheerfully glinting moonlight like nothing was wrong. The pool lights were off at night to let them sleep, but their magic always faintly shone in the dark. He couldn't see their light.

Numb, he climbed down the ladder, unsure what to do. Walking inside, he realized his father might still be up. Racing down hallways he arrived swiftly at his study, knocking on the door. When there was no answer, he swung it open.

No one occupied the large room from what he could see. His father would usually be hunched over the papers on his big oak desk or standing at the large chalkboard taking up the back wall. Peeking his head around corners revealed nowhere his father could be hiding. Just to be sure, he checked his room as well, to no avail. 

Papyrus was breathing hard at this point, and he started to race to Sipyon's room to ask for help when he crashed into Gaster. 

"Son?" Gaster picked himself off the ground, bending back down to help the disoriented skeleton up. "What's wrong? What are you doing awake at this hour?"

"The mermaid….. they're gone…" he panted, gripping hard at his father’s jacket sleeves.

“Oh, son I noticed they were sick. I brought them back to the sea because I assumed it was the pool water making them ill. I’ve tried making it as similar to the seawater as I could but perhaps it wasn’t good enough.” Papyrus stared at him and his father continued. “They threw up after they were done eating, and I left with them soon after. I only now got back.”

Papyrus desperately wanted to believe his father, he really did. But he just couldn’t. He might not be able to read people well but he knew when his father was lying. There was no way he would give up just from them getting sick. He wouldn't immediately jump to conclusions about why they were ill. He must've done something to them.

“Why....why didn’t you let me say goodbye?” Accusing wouldn’t get him anywhere; his father was very good at wiggling out of difficult situations. 

“Ah, my apologies. I wanted to, but you were upset, I’m assuming over something I did, so I felt it best to leave you be.” Gaster tilted his head. “Why are you up, son?”

“I….. was thirsty. I decided to check up on the mermaid while I was up and about…” Papyrus withdrew to himself again, spinning on heel to power walk away. “I’m very tired now, I’m going to go to bed, goodnight!” He said quickly, all but racing down the hall to his room, not seeing his father squint after him. 

Papyrus needed to regroup his thoughts and make a plan. He knew just who to call.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aftermath of a meltdown, papyrus puts himself down, sans is in labor and clearly in pain, sans goes missing and while it's clear gaster did something to him it's unclear what, he lies to papyrus about it


	6. arrival

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> part of the warnings are at the beginning for once. be warned, there are spoilers. 
> 
> i bumped the rating up because while i feel birth is natural and shouldn't be considered nsfw, it is more of a mature topic. nothing is too graphic i feel, but be prepared for more of an in depth than 'he gives birth'
> 
> tw pet death: also my fish died yesterday. i love him to death so i'd like to dedicate this fucked up fic to him. i feel he and sans have a lot in common, they're both very perseverant. my fish deserved a lot better than me and im glad he doesn't need to suffer anymore. 
> 
> just a note: this fic will end happily. no matter how dark things get there will always be a good ending. don't worry too much, we'll get there <3

sans was worried that his teeth would break from how hard he was clenching them. He let out a muffled scream as his body contracted again, trying to expel a second egg. The first one had already been laid and his SOUL ached. Usually merfolk have someone - commonly their mate - nearby to sooth and donate magic but he had no one. He didn’t want to give birth without red but it seemed his body didn’t care. 

The monster was nearby, not the very nice one, he would’ve felt a little better then, but the evil one. They were pacing around the puddle, making no move to help. Not that sans would have wanted their help but he was so scared of doing this all alone. 

The first egg was relatively small, small enough to sit fully underneath the water of this tiny pond. The sides were a bright blue with weird looking fish decorating the plastic. He hated it, he couldn’t even swim, only drag himself. He had moved to the middle of the pond to give birth, hoping to have some form of cover, counting on the fact that they wouldn’t want to get their shoes wet. 

Holding his breath, he pushed along with this contraction, knowing if he fought it he’d give birth anyway, but would be absolutely drained before he was done. If he had no other choice he wanted to have enough energy to protect his children. However, it seemed the other monster counted on this as well. 

sans pushed again, feeling the egg move to just before his entrance. He let out the breath he was holding, wiping tears from his face even though he knew more were falling. With a whimper, the second egg was expelled, landing safely in his hands. Normally this was done on soft sand or moss but he clearly wasn’t going to be given any reprieve from this stupid pond so he made sure to catch the eggs. They were hardy but he didn’t want to risk it. 

Unlike before he didn’t get a break in between the first and second egg. Right after the second egg was dispelled his body contracted again, already trying to push the final egg out. Red and sans had chosen to have only three as their defense was so low. The only reason they could even have the few was because their wells of magic were plentiful. It certainly didn’t feel that way now, though. Sans’ head swam as he set the egg down. This one was larger than the first, as it commonly was. Middle children tended to be bigger.

He groaned when his body pushed again without warning, feeling so sore and tired and very nauseous. His vision swam again, blacking out briefly. When he could see again he wailed seeing the monster standing in the pond with him. They reached down to his eggs and sans moved to defend them but wailed once more when he contracted. The egg felt stuck but he couldn’t look down, too focused on the monster taking his second egg away from him. He screeched and screamed as they walked away with it, out of the pond, leaving with his baby. 

Attempting to drag himself to them only caused even more agony to shoot through him, and when he pushed again, the egg toppled into the water. Sans sobbed but still checked the egg for any signs of damage. Luckily there were none but even more unluckily, he had absolutely no strength to chase the monster. He weakly curled around his remaining eggs and darkness finally overtook him and stayed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sans gives birth, it's obviously very painful, gaster takes one of the eggs while sans is still in labor and powerless,


	7. neglect

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> see detailed warnings in the end notes

The egg seemed to be thriving on the heating pad, supporting his theory that mermaids kept their eggs close to the surface until they hatch. An egg that needs warmth wouldn’t survive deeper down, unless of course they stayed near heating vents. Either way, he was getting distracted again. 

The tiny SOULing inside was pulsing with anxiety. It seemed the little thing realized it was away from it’s parent, or it was just sensing their distress. Tapping lightly on the egg, Gaster tried to determine where the baby was curled. Now that he had an egg, he could simply tell Papyrus he had lied before, but that his son had changed his mind. It would hopefully appeal to the young man’s kind-hearted nature. If Papyrus believed that he had changed his father for the better, helped him admit the error of his ways, he might not think too hard about it.

He admittedly made a small miscalculation by bringing him here. He had assumed that his son would be so desperate for a stronger bond that he’d willingly go along with Gaster’s plans but he had presumed too much. It was a big wake up call, to realize his son was a full grown person, a person he didn’t closely know. As a child he had been easy to care for, with the help of Sipyon, of course. Gaster had been, as always, more invested in his work to really pay attention to the small skeleton, but he did try. He had eaten as many family dinners as he could with him, occasionally tucked him into bed. Perhaps it had not been enough. Because despite seeing him every once in a while, his son was practically a stranger.

A part of Gaster regretted doing this every step of the way - he didn’t want to be the bad guy. And he wouldn’t be, if this all paid off. He sincerely believed the mermaid was a huge step to solving the falling down problem. They functioned differently than land dwelling monsters did - who knew how they handled falling down, or if they even did! With just a few more years of research he could finally show all his progress. Hopefully his son could forgive him.

An idle thought wormed its way into his head - he was making the child a stranger to their parent as well. He pushed it away.

For now he had a bigger problem. The mermaid needed to be moved back to the larger pool, along with their eggs. He could heat the water to make sure it was warm enough for them. However, that wasn’t the issue. He wasn’t sure how he could move the mermaid back. He had been monitoring their life systems ever since he had moved them to give birth and they were incredibly weak. Their magic levels were near depleted. He had attempted to donate some magic to them but he was angrily rejected, which was fair enough, he supposed. Gaster was very confused on the bond that Papyrus and the mermaid had acquired so quickly but it could play in his favor. He really didn’t want the mermaid to die - and now that he had an egg he could even possibly let them leave. But he couldn’t free them if they were dead.

Sighing, he rubbed tiredly at his face and texted his son.

~*~*~

Just as he was getting off his phone call, Papyrus got a text. From his father nonetheless, asking him to meet him in the backyard. The similarity to the text that began all of this made him nervous, and he considered ignoring it. In the end, though, curiosity won out. He had about two hours before his friend arrived, he might as well gather some intel. 

Papyrus made his way to the backyard quickly, but when he arrived no one was there. He checked the pool to make sure, finding it as empty as it had been the night before. “Hello?” he called out, receiving no reply at first. After a quiet minute his father came bustling around the corner of the house, beckoning him. 

“Hello, father,” he cleared his throat of nerves. “What did you need?”

“Son,” Gaster faced him, placing both hands on the taller’s shoulders. “I owe you an apology.”

“What.” Papyrus blinked, clearly not expecting that.

“An apology,” he repeated. “I lied to you, I still have the mermaid.”

“Oh,” he breathed. “Uhm, to be honest I sort of already suspected?”

“Of course you did, you’ve always been very observant. Let me take you to them,” Gaster bustled his son over to the entrance to the basement. Papyrus was horrified at the thought of them being kept here, but upon descending the stairs he saw nothing. He was instead led to a door off to the side, one he was never allowed in. Anticipation almost made him hesitate but he followed his father down the long tunnel that hid behind the door. 

They walked for a while, nothing of interest to note. Papyrus wasn’t claustrophobic by any means but spending this long in confined quarters started to make him anxious. “I hate walking through the forest. Too much dirt,” his father explained.

Finally they arrived at another set of stairs, this time leading up. Gaster opened another set of basement doors. Climbing up the stairs revealed them to be in the middle of the forest surrounding his father’s estate. Papyrus had thought he didn’t own the land around his house but was apparently wrong. There was a fair sized building sitting in the middle of a clearing, the walls a solid steel. 

“They’re in here,” he explained, unlocking the door with a key. “I need you to be prepared, they’re not in the best shape right now.”

“What happened??” Papyrus gasped, mind immediately jumping to the worse. Entering the building didn’t show them immediately. 

“Calm down, they’re not injured, just drained. As it turns out, they were pregnant. They gave birth yesterday, hence the reason I came forward with the truth. I realized that you would push for me to return them before the week was up and I needed to study them more, so I thought to hide them. I understand now how big of a mistake that was…" he trailed off, sighing. "Their birth went relatively okay, but they used far too much magic. I tried to donate but was rejected."

"So you need me to give them magic?" 

“Yes. If we’re going to release them they need a chance to survive the journey. Since the eggs will be continuously draining them, they need to accept magic from someone.” Gaster held open the door for his son, who quickly slipped through. The main room was a typical lab, what you would expect from the Royal Scientist. Ushering him through the main room through an empty doorway revealed a small cramped room, possibly a large shower, with a kiddie pool filling all the floor room. Laying in the middle of the pool, not even halfway in the water, the mermaid slept, curled around two wide ovular eggs a bit bigger than chicken eggs. 

“This is horrid,” Papyrus gasped, remembering only after he said it that wasn’t typically something someone should say, especially to their father. However, his father merely nodded. 

“I want to get them back to the pool as quickly as possible. They can survive in this pool but can’t move - something else I regret.” Gaster pressed lightly on Papyrus’ back, urging him to get into the pool. He slipped off his shoes and socks, then his scarf, handing it carefully to his father, he briefly left the room to set it on a counter. Rolling up his pant legs as he went, Papyrus stepped into the pool, frowning at how chilly it felt. 

This close he could see the small SOUL pips inside the eggs and resisted the urge to coo. They were far too quiet - even when just a SOUL babies should be loud. Hovering a hand over the eggs, he gave a small burst of magic, smiling when they eagerly responded, absorbing his magic. Satisfied, he turned to the mermaid, holding his hands above their chest. Ideally for someone who’s pregnant, the person donating magic would be closer to their SOUL, but it was also considered horrific to draw out someone’s SOUL without their permission, and since the mermaid wasn’t actively dying, Papyrus wanted to try without it first. 

Gently placing his hands on their chest, he let calming intent surge through him, feeling his hands warm as magic was transferred. He was extremely relieved he was accepted the first try. Their SOUL was desperate, hungrily drinking magic as it was presented. Eventually, even though it cried out for more, Papyrus had to stop. Too much magic was bad, even for someone who had SOULings depending on them; he didn’t want them to get drunk on magic after all. 

Papyrus had expected the mermaid to stay asleep for a while with how calming his intent had been, but he jumped when he felt a sudden spike of second hand adrenaline. He was overwhelmed and fell back when the mermaid surged forward, clearly awake and very, very angry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> references to kidnapping, result of kidnapping of a child (egg), neglect of person and babies (eggs)
> 
> i think that's it? let me know if i missed anything.


	8. enter the king

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> see end notes for warnings
> 
> i love yall rooting for gasters death lmao

Papyrus didn’t understand what was happening, only that the next moment he was on his back in the water, a very angry mermaid on top of him. There was too much noise - a very loud shriek, splashing water, frantic yelling, he finally realized. He felt claws hook into his shoulders, lifting his torso as they were dragged up a line. 

His mind finally caught up a little and realized his father was trying to get them away from him with purple magic. Gaster seemed to give up and dropped them back down. They landed on Papyrus again with a pained groan low in their chest. Papyrus gasped as his body suddenly remembered to breathe and he instinctively hugged the mermaid close, projecting calm again. They screamed in his ear, making him cry out at how overwhelming it all was. They stopped struggling against him, when they heard him yell, their ribcage pressing against his head as they curled over him, growling at Gaster. 

“-on? Son? Papyrus?!” His father’s voice was the last thing to filter into his overworked mind. Papyrus sobbed again at the extra stimulus, trying to say something but his words were once again stuck in his throat. “Papyrus, do you need me to get you out of there?” He did manage to shake his head, hindered as it was by their chest. “My presence is upsetting them, I’m going to stand in the other room, around the corner. If you need anything, yell out, please,” he asked, and Papyrus noticed how shaken he sounded. He had never heard his father sound like that before. 

His father’s footsteps left the room but the mermaid did not stop growling. They were still tense against him, flat on his body. The water barely reached over his face and the water lapping at his cheekbones made him shudder. Whining, he pushed at their hips, the only place he could reach right now. Luckily, they got the hint and plopped off of him into the water beside him. The water sloshed again as they turned around, accidentally smacking him with their tail as they went. He shook his skull free from water as he watched them check over their eggs, crooning in worry. 

Papyrus changed his _calm_ to _reassurance_ , wincing as he rolled his shoulders, seeing some dust fall into the water. He quickly healed himself before they could notice. 

Once the mermaid realized that their eggs were strong and healthy, they turned back to him, making a low chirp at him. He tried to smile at them, but it fell very flat. When he caught sight of their bruised and swollen cloaca his sucked in a breath in sympathy. His hands lit up with warm magic in an offering, and they seemed to consider it before turning a bit more onto their back. Papyrus managed to get the swelling to go down but not all of the bruising before his magic faltered and gave out; he had already given so much. 

It was only then the skeleton registered that he had been crying and shaking the whole time. His breath was coming in shudders and he curled into himself, head tucking between his knees, hands cradling his neck. As he rocked himself, attempting to calm down, the mermaid was humming lowly, lying down in the water once more near their eggs. A fresh round of crying wracked through him when they started projecting to him, _sorrow, safe, calm._

Eventually the tears petered out and he sighed, thoroughly drained. His hands came down to wrap around his ankles, resting his head on the tops of his knees. The mermaid was staring at him with wide, soft eyelights and he averted his gaze to the eggs, smiling softly at the pulsing SOULs within them. 

“Son?” His father’s voice drifted around the corner into the room. The mermaid tensed again, a hiss rising from their ribs.”Is everything okay?”

“Yes,” he managed to say, just barely louder than their hissing. He desperately wanted his father to leave, he was only making things worse.

“Alright. I have extra clothes down here, I’m going to go grab them for you.” His footsteps faded and Papyrus breathed a sigh of relief. Once again the mermaid calmed down. 

“He’s going to free you,” Papyrus signed, his hands itching to be kept busy. They wouldn’t be able to understand him, he knew that. “You and your babies can go back to your home.” With his SOUL he tried to project the same. They chirped, laying next to their eggs. To his confusion, they started gesturing to their eggs, then pointed out of the room, their speech getting more and more distressed. “I don’t understand…” Papyrus frowned. 

They cupped their hands around one egg, then the other, and finally, moved their hands over an empty space next to them in the exact way they cupped their eggs. Papyrus watched them do the same gestures a couple of times before his tired mind started to guess what they were trying to say. _Loss,_ their SOUL spoke to him. _Loss._

“Was one of your eggs stillborn?” As terrible as it sounded, Papyrus desperately wanted to believe that to be true rather than the alternative, rather than face the thought that his father took someone’s brand new baby away from them. 

The mermaid kept gesturing, watching his face closely, expectantly. Papyrus doubted they would know what this meant, but he pointed at an egg, then held up one finger, doing the same to the other, holding up another. He pointed to the empty space and held up a third finger. The mermaid nodded frantically making sad, desperate chirps. Their breathing quickened until they came out as whines, tears beading in their sockets. 

“It’s okay!” he signed, tearing up empathetically. He placed his hands on either side of their skull, projecting to them, _reassurance, determination._

~*~*~

When Gaster returned, Papyrus was holding the eggs, smiling fondly down at them as the mermaid looked on in relative peace. When they noticed him standing in the doorway they growled, clawing their way to sit in front of Papyrus. 

“Relax,” he muttered. Papyrus was looking up at him, his smile gone. “I got you clothes,” he offered them out. The skeleton turned and gently placed the eggs back behind the mermaid before standing, stripping out of his wet clothes. As he stepped out of the water and redressed into slightly ill-fitting clothes, Gaster took a moment to observe the fish. They looked a lot better than before and definitely much more alert. The remaining eggs looked brighter as well, from what he could see. 

“How are we going to move them?” Papyrus asked, now dressed. “...How did you move them last time,” his signs were small and sharp, clearly upset.

“I brought a wheelbarrow,” he gestured out into the main room, where sure enough it was waiting. “You need to carry them for me, they won’t let me anywhere near them.” Papyrus furrowed his brow as he turned to pick up the mermaid. If the mermaid wouldn’t let Gaster pick them up how did he get them here the first time, without any new injuries as well.

It took a bit to get them to understand what was happening, but finally Papyrus managed to transfer them to the wheelbarrow with the eggs nestled safely in their arms. They seemed incredibly anxious to be in the wheelbarrow, nervously rumbling to themself. Gaster was well out of the room as it was the only way they’d let themself be moved. The journey back to the backyard was a bit difficult, especially the stairs. They were still sore even though the healing had helped a lot and they whimpered with every bump. 

Finally they were back in the yard. Getting them into the pool was even harder. Gaster made a makeshift ramp and Papyrus wheeled the mermaid up there and sort of….tipped them into the water. Not the most elegant way to go, but at least it was done. The mermaid seemed okay, curling around their eggs at the bottom of the pool.

“I’ll begin making preparations to transport them back,” Gaster nodded at him, moving to walk back into the house. Papyrus looked nervously down at his phone for the time then stopped him from walking away. 

“Wait! I uh… have something to tell you,” he signed nervously. “I. May have called Asgore. And he may or may not be coming here in about 30 minutes.” Papyrus waited, not daring to look at his father’s face at first, but when he did, he flinched at the darkened look on his face. It wasn’t directed toward him, but it still scared him.

“...I was letting them go, do you have any idea what could happen?” He finally asked, quietly. 

“I- I didn’t know you were going to put them back home! All I know is that you lied to me! And I didn’t want them to suffer anymore! Especially since I found out they were pregnant! I didn’t know!” Papyrus really needed to eat some food after all this crying. 

“What exactly did you tell him?” Gaster turned back to him, walking closer, looking less angry and more worried now. 

“I just said that I believed you weren’t making the best choices with your work and that I needed help convincing you otherwise! You know he cares about you as a friend as well, it didn’t take much to get him out here…”

“That was it? You didn’t give any details?” Even though he wasn’t meeting his gaze, Papyrus could feel the intensity of it.

“All I said was another person was involved. When he pressed for details I didn’t give any. I won’t lie to him while he’s here, though. I can’t. I’ll let him know that you’re returning them! Maybe he’ll just stay for tea and leave!” Papyrus stuck his hands in his scarf when he was done signing, nervously moving his wrist to feel the fuzzy inside of his glove. 

“This could be salvageable,” Gaster muttered. “You’re right, he also desires friendship from me, and he was never known to-” As if on queue, the doorbell rang, audible even from the backyard. Simultaneously they looked toward the house. Sipyon had been ready to answer the door, and just as they were almost to the porch, King Asgore stepped out into the backyard. 

“Howdy,” he greeted with a warm smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> minor violence, papyrus has a meltdown, mentions of genitals and genital injury, mentions of having a stillborn child
> 
> if i missed anything please tell me!


	9. communication

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> detailed warnings in the end notes
> 
> there are some POV changes in this chapter, tell me if they're too confusing and what i can change if so
> 
> ty to everyone leaving kudos and comments, yall make my day <3 stay safe everyone.

“Hello-” Papyrus started to walk toward the king but was abruptly tackled to the ground. He wrestled with the blue fish monster on top of him, scrambling to get out from under her as she began to noogie his skull.

“Hey punk!!!!” She cackled, pinning him on his front with a well placed knee to his spine. “Betcha didn’t expect me, huh????” 

“Undyne!” he grunted, trying to throw her off, “Don’t noogie the skeleton!” 

“Always expect the unexpected!” she growled, giving him one last noogie before climbing off of him, hauling him to his feet. She gave him a giant grin before bringing him into a bone-crushing hug. “Nice to see ya dude! What’s it been, three days?”

“Exactly three days,” he hugged back as best he could trapped in his grip. “But yes, I’ve missed you too. What are you doing here?”

“I was with Asgore while you called so I decided to tag along!” Undyne slung her arm around his shoulder, finally noticing Gaster standing a safe distance away. “Oh hey, you must be this dweeb’s dad!” She stuck out a hand to him, which he looked at like he didn’t know what it was, but finally took, shaking limply. 

“You must be the infamous Undyne,” he said a bit snidely. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet my son’s best friend.”

“Course,” she grinned again. “It’s hard not to love this lil guy,” she trapped him back underneath her arm and gave him another noogie while he screamed indignantly that he wasn’t much shorter than her. 

“Undyne, leave the poor boy alone,” Asgore smiled fondly. “Hello again Papyrus. Gaster,” he nodded at both of them. 

“King Asgore,” Gaster inclined his head politely. “Would you like to speak privately in my study?” 

“Ah, always one to cut to the chase. I had hoped to share some pleasantries first, but I suppose we can get down to business if that’s what you prefer,” Asgore stepped to the side, motioning into the house.

“Oh, could I actually come too? Possibly? Please?” Papyrus’ voice grew smaller and smaller, twiddling his thumbs bashfully.

“No.” “Yes.” Gaster and Asgore spoke at the same time, then looked to each other. 

“Perhaps we’ll have time to speak later, Papyrus,” Asgore said apologetically. 

As the two walked back into the house Undyne sniffed, looking around the yard. “This place is huge.”

“I’ve talked about my old home before,” Papyrus pointed out. 

“Well yeah but I didn’t know it was this big!” She held out her hands and spun around. “Good thing you didn’t turn out to be a spoiled brat,” she snickered at his offended look. “Aw, I’m just jokin’” She brought him into a one armed hug. “So what did your dad want help with, anyway?”

“Oh! Come here!” Papyrus shrugged her off and sprinted to the pool, climbing the ladder. “Be quiet, though.”

“What is it?” Undyne clambered up and poked her head over the side. “What the heck??”

“A mermaid,” Papyrus huffed. “My dad captured a pregnant mermaid and is keeping them against their will.”

“What the heck?????” She repeated, louder. “He kidnapped someone? And wait, I thought mermaids didn’t exist.”

“Well, I guess they do, huh.” Papyrus huffed. “And keep your voice down! They just gave birth!” 

“Are they okay?” his friend looked back down into the water with a worried expression. “They’re not moving.” 

“They’re very drained but stable.” He explained, climbing down from the ladder, motioning her to follow suit. “I need you to listen,” Papyrus said soberly and she turned her full attention to him. “It’s a long story but. Basically, they don’t speak our language at all, not spoken or signing. However I have been able to communicate with them through intentions and such.” He took a deep breath and Undyne waited patiently. 

“My father… has been acting extremely sketchy. Aside from the kidnapping, I mean,” glancing at the ground, he rubbed his arm, “I found them missing one night, and he told me he returned them to the ocean but the next day led me to a secret lab where he kept them instead. They had to give birth in a kiddie pool and. I’m pretty sure my father took one of their eggs.”

“Fuck,” Undyne rubbed her remaining eye. “Well, when you explain it to Asgore I’m sure he’ll stop all this. Look, I know that you probably don’t want your dad to get in trouble but-”

“I know. It’s okay.” Papyrus nodded grimly. “He said he’s going to return the mermaid to the ocean soon but he doesn’t know I know about the egg. We need to find it.”

“Well we’ll tell Asgore and then your dad will have to tell him where it is! He can’t refuse and order from the king!” 

“Yeah, maybe.” He sighed. “I’m not sure, my father can be very slippery.”

“Well, hey. Asgore trusts me too, and since I’m training for the Guard, he’ll have to listen!” She smiled at him with all her sharp teeth and Papyrus couldn’t help but grin back. “Don’t worry about it, we’ll have this fishy back with their family in no time!”

“Yeah!” Papyrus found it hard to not be enthused by her confidence. “Of course! We can do this! We just need to find that egg!”

“Hell yeah!” She punched him hard in the arm, as she often did when excited. Then she punched him again and he glared at her, rubbing his arm.

“What the heckie was that for?!”

“Not texting me about all this!” Undyne raised her arm to hit him again and Papyrus screamed and ran away. Laughing, she gave chase.

~*~*~

As sans slowly awoke, he stretched his tail, wincing when his middle twinged in pain. It was nowhere near as bad as it was before Sweety healed him but still sore. However, as rested and recharged as he felt, sans was dying to swim around. 

The SOULs inside his eggs were still going strong and steady, something he was extremely relieved to see. Sans still felt his SOUL crying out for his missing child, and he liked to imagine he could feel them calling back. 

They were getting moved back and forth between ponds a lot lately, and it made him nervous, made him feel like Worm had something even worse planned. 

Smoothing a hand down his eggs, he fed a bit of affectionate magic into them one more time before slowly swimming away, as if expecting the worm to jump in and snatch his eggs away again. When nothing happened, he took a few laps around the pool, reveling as his unused muscles were worked. 

Upon hearing a sudden scream, he shot back to his eggs, curling over them in the blink of an eye. The longer they went on with nothing happening to his eggs the more curious he became. Were there other test subjects out there? If so, what was being done to them? Maybe he should look to get a preview of what Worm would try with him and his babies.

Inch by inch sans peeled himself away from his eggs, ready to snap back to them at the first sign of something entering the water. When he made it to the surface, he took a few deep breaths before peeking over. It was Sweety who was screaming, being chased by another monster. Anger welled up inside him, the desire to protect surging through him. Wicked sharp bones materialized beside him, and he grabbed one, aiming carefully before launching it at the monster chasing his friend. It zipped through the air toward them, well on it’s mark, but at the last second they noticed and dove to the ground. 

Sans grabbed another and threw it; they dodged again. By this time Sweety had stopped and was frantically yelling something, waving their arms around. Turning quickly to check on his eggs, he confirmed they were still there and then returned to what he was doing. Bones stuck out of the ground as the monster dodged each time. He managed to scrape them a couple of times and watched with satisfaction as dust sprinkled the air, floating lazily to the ground. 

Sweety ran up to the pond, climbing up the ladder. When they reached the top sans reached over and yanked them in, making sure they sank to the bottom before resuming his attack. The monster on the ground was yelling something now, but still didn’t fire back, he noticed. His tail twitched when he felt Sweety tap on his fin, growling under his breath when they surfaced next to him. He was about to shove them back under but they held onto his arm, speaking in their weird language. 

_Stop!_ Their SOUL projected so loudly it threw him off, the bone he tried to impale the monster with landing way off it’s mark. They reached for another but their hand was grabbed and tugged away. _Stop!_ They said again and he glared at them, checking them up and down, finding no injury. Huffing, he dispelled his attacks, watching the monster on the ground as they dusted themself off. The two monsters spoke to each other and now more than ever that he could understand them. 

The person on the ground walked closer to the pool slowly, their hands up in a peaceful gesture. Sweety said something and sans jolted in surprise when the monster spoke next. It was mostly unintelligible but he managed to catch a couple of words.

“Sorry... you, I …...”

“Wait, I can sort of understand you,” he gasped. “Say that again!” The monster paused, saying something in the other language to Sweety, who exclaimed something excitedly.

“I…..some….” They scratched their cheek, seeming to think. “I…..some….school.” The rest of what they said after that he couldn’t understand. 

“Listen,” he said to them. “I’m not sure how much of this you’re getting but we need help. This monster as well as me and my eggs are being held captive. The monster who’s keeping us here also has another of my eggs, there are three.” His fingers tightened on the edge of the pond. “We need out, I need my baby. I don’t know what they want with people’s babies but it can’t be anything good.”

“I can only get some of what they’re saying,” Undyne sighed. “They said something about a monster and there being three of something.”

“Three eggs!” Papyrus shouted. “I told you, they had three of them! I only ever saw two which means my father took one!” 

“Yeah,” Undyne huffed, untying and retying her ponytail. “Get out of the pool and we can figure out how to tell Asgore all of this. Once Asgore hears that there are kids involved I’m sure he’ll listen.”

“Where are you going?” sans asked as Sweety climbed out of the pool. He hesitantly let them go. “Are they going to help?”

“Don’t worry,” Papyrus smiled at the mermaid. “We’ll be back soon. We’ll find your baby.” Undyne relayed what he said in fishspeak and the mermaid sighed, saying nothing else. "Are you okay?" he asked Undyne.

“Of course! Just a couple of scrapes," she grinned at him. "By the way, what are you calling them?” Undyne took his scarf, carefully wringing it out for him while Papyrus worked on his gloves. 

“What? Nothing, I don’t know their name.” he muttered, distracted by his dripping clothes. He might as well just constantly wear swimclothes at this point.

“Well yeah, duh! But you should still have a nickname for them other than ‘that mermaid’,” she snorted, plopping the scarf loosely around her own neck. 

“I don’t know! Maybe….sans?” Papyrus worked on his shirt next. “It’s a common skeleton name, a round sort of font and they’re round?” his voice lifted, trailing off as she laughed.

“It suits them!” She gave his scarf back when he gestured for it and they walked back into the house, sans quietly watching them go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> violence, mentions of child kidnapping


	10. technically treason

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> uwu

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> see detailed warnings at the end

“Gaster,” Asgore sighed, rubbing the fuzzy area above his nose. “You do realize how serious this is, yes?”

“Yes, of course,” Gaster waved his hands, very blasé about the whole ‘kidnapped a person’ thing. “I’m sure you can keep this quiet, though. It’s not like it needs to involve anyone except a few select people, to help with research. I’m sure with a stipend and a small team of my choosing we could have results in a couple of years at the most.” When he finished, his actual hands were tucked neatly behind his back, his hands he formed to help sign floating listlessly in the air. 

The King stared at him for a very long moment. “Did. Did you just ask for money?”

“Yes I thought that was clear.”

“You- you cannot possibly believe I would help with this, do you? Gaster, no matter if we can communicate with this mermaid or not, it’s clear they’re still a sentient being. If you do not have their consent it is immoral to keep them.”

“Oh please, sentience is defined as a creature understanding it’s emotions and feelings. Many, many animals are aware of this, rats, elephants, crows, to name a few. And yet they do not have the same rights as humans and monsters. Why is that? Because they are still animals.” he dismissed. 

“But they clearly have their own language!” 

“So do all animals,” Gaster looked at him dully. “Elephants have distinct words for good humans and bad humans. Crows can learn common and request certain foods from people. Does that mean we let them open bank accounts?”

At a loss of words, Asgore went back to rubbing his face. “Think about it, this is the life of one creature to benefit all of monster kind. Sir, sometimes the needs of the many outweigh the needs of one.” The scientist continued, sensing that he was swaying the king. 

“Yes, yes. Don’t quote things at me.” Huffing, the king swirled the tea in his small teacup. “Do you know what you’re asking of me?”

“For a stipend and a team of my choosing,” Gaster repeated simply, expectantly. “Your highness-” he continued on as if he didn’t hear Asgore requesting he just use his name, “I honestly, truly do believe that this could be the answer to the influx of monster’s falling down lately. If we can’t figure out how to solve a lack of HOPE before it’s fatal, why not simply help them back up?”

“...If I were to give you the things you requested, can you guarantee that you can have made significant progress in two years?” Pleased, Gaster nodded. “You also need to give me your word that the mermaid and it’s offspring live comfortably and healthily.”

“As best as I can manage. Aside from any experiments that would need to be conducted, they will live happily.” The scientist tilted his head. “That was already a given. I’m not cruel.”

“Would you be willing to sign a contract?” 

“Of course.”

~*~*~

“Papyrus,” Asgore held out a warm paw for him to take, which he gladly did, taking comfort at the weight of it, “We could talk now, if you’d like. Your father and I have reached an agreement.”

“Oh, I’m so glad!” he waved goodbye to Undyne as the two headed into the house. “Is my father still in the study? I’d like to congratulate him!”

“Ah, yes! Gaster’s lucky to have such a supportive child,” He smiled down at the beaming skeleton. “I’m sure you’re very proud of the things he’s going to accomplish.”

“Wait, what? Accomplish what?” Papyrus asked, dread starting to creep into his voice. 

“I thought you knew? It’s not any secret; your father is attempting to cure monsters that have fallen down!” 

“Well, yes I knew that part,” he said briskly, drawing his hand away from Asgore. “I meant. Uhm. The mermaid, they’re being returned right? To the ocean??”

“Ah. Well.” They arrived at the main lounge and Asgore settled awkwardly on a couch that was too small for him. Papyrus hopped into an armchair, then leapt back to his feet, unable to stay still. “We decided it was best to let him continue his research.” Asgore twiddled his thumbs. “But rest assured! They will be well taken care of, the mermaid and their offspring. I will be checking in periodically to make sure Gaster and his team are properly caring for them.”

“What?!” Papyrus shouted. “Are you kidding me?!” The king’s eyes widened, looking at him in shock as Papyrus paced angrily, blustering nonsense, trying to find his words. “You! You’re just. Letting him?! Do this?! How terrible!” he devolved again into furious mutters. 

“Papyrus, my boy, please sit and breathe-” 

“I’m not your _boy_ ,” he spat. “I’m an adult. Clearly! One of the only rational thinking ones here!” Asgore should have been affronted, but he only seemed bewildered. “Asgore! You know! I respect you! Despite the questionable decisions you sometimes make! Please! Don’t let this be one of them!” Papyrus finished, breathing heavily. 

“...I know you care very deeply about many things,” Asgore began slowly, “And I also wouldn’t wish this on any creature unless it was necessary. But. Papyrus,” he carefully kept himself from calling him boy again, “When thinking about how many people this would benefit, do you really think it isn’t worth it?”

“They’re a new parent! With children who rely on them!” Papyrus clenched his fits, tears welling up again. 

“Yes, I’ve been made aware. And how many children do you think lose their parents to a lack of HOPE? Statistically, that number is several hundred. Forgive me, but as much as it pains me, I’d like to think keeping them - comfortably, mind you - for a couple of years is well worth it,” Asgore furrowed his brow. “I’m glad I have your respect, really, it means quite a lot. I’d hope I also have your trust as well.” He stood once more, dusting off his sweater. “Please call me if you’d like to speak some more, but for now I’m afraid I have to leave.” He swept out of the room, not bothering to look at Papyrus again, clearly some level of upset. 

Standing in the middle of the empty room, Papyrus tried to burn a hole in the carpet with the strength of his glare. Quickly, he pulled out his phone, calling Undyne.

“Hey, what’s up?” she picked up on the first ring. “How did your talk go? Did your dad tell him where the egg was?”

“He’s letting him keep them!” he shouted. “He doesn’t care! Undyne! We need to get them out of here ourselves!”

“Fuck!” she growled. “I know Asgore, I know the guy’s done some bad stuff in the past, but I thought he was trying to get over that! I thought he was trying to make better choices!” she sounded very upset, and Papyrus felt bad for her. He knew that they had a very close relationship, were unofficially father and daughter. She admired and looked up to him so much, he almost regretted bringing her into this, having her stand against her dad. Nothing he could do about it now. 

“I know, I did too,” he sighed, body deflating with his tone. “I’m sorry.”

“Agh, right now we have more important things to focus on. Did Asgore say anything about the egg?”

“Oh,” Papyrus slapped a hand over his mouth. “I forgot to ask!” 

“It’s fine, I doubt he would’ve said anything anyway. You said he had a secret lab out in the forest, right? It’d have to be there somewhere, right?”

“Possibly,” the skeleton paced again. “But I don’t have the keys, it was locked down pretty tight.” 

“Well then that’s the first step, getting the keys. Would Sipyon be willing to help?”

“Oh yeah!” he perked up again. “He would! They already said they’d be willing to do whatever I was planning!”

“Ha, he’s a good monster,” she sighed. “I’ll tell Asgore I’m going to catch a ride back with you. I’m sure your dad would think that’s suspicious but whatever, who cares what he thinks! I’ll rip the door right off that lab!” Undyne yelled.

“Keep your voice down!” Papyrus hissed. “I’m not sure where my father is right now.”

“I want him to know,” she huffed, but listened to him. “Okay, so we just have to find a way to get the keys from him.”

“We just have to get the keys from him,” he repeated, a bit weaker. “Yes, but. Maybe tomorrow? I’m really tired.” 

“Yeah! Tomorrow!” she yelled. “Race you to your room!” Undyne hung up on him. Papyrus slapped a hand to his forehead, staying where he was. Soon enough, she called back and he answered, his face still buried in his hand. “Uhm. Where’s your room again?”

They met at his room and Papyrus loaned her some clothes, as she hadn’t expected to stay this long. She was taller but he was broader, so they opted for a nightgown just as his father had. It sagged on her frame but she didn’t seem to mind, simply diving into bed, immediately stealing all the blankets. Undyne cackled as he yelled at her, trying to wrestle them back from her.

Eventually the two settled down, both tucked nicely under the warm comforter. Papyrus stared up at the ceiling, listening to his friend snoring beside him. A couple of days ago he had just finished with his midterm, something he believed to be a giant obstacle. Now he was planning on going against the king and his father, stealing what was believed to be a mythical creature and their babies, somehow making it hours away without getting caught, to return them to the water. 

He sighed, knowing he needed rest for tomorrow, but also unable to stop his racing mind. He heavily debated digging his gummies out of his dresser when Undyne tossed in her sleep, smacking him square in the face. 

“Ow,” he muttered, throwing an oblivious Undyne’s hand off of him, rolling away from her to bury his face into his soft pillow, sighing as he slowly drifted to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> gaster gets to keep sans and his babies, papyrus and undyne are both let down in their father figures


	11. everything goes wrong

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> things are getting kinda scary right now, i hope all of you stay safe <3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> see end notes for detailed warnings

The next morning Papyrus woke bright and early, as usual. Undyne had stolen all the blankets in her sleep again, but he just rubbed his sockets and got up to get ready for the day. After a very quick but well needed shower (he hadn’t showered in days!), Papyrus threw his towel at Undyne’s sleeping face, yelling for her to get up. She shot upright, clearly alarmed. 

“Good morning,” Papyrus said sweetly as she scowled at him. “Get ready, we’ve got work to do.”

He dressed while Undyne was in the shower, grabbing his phone before he headed down to the kitchen. Sipyon met him with a breakfast buffet already ready. “Do you wake up earlier than me on purpose?” Papyrus asked him and the fuzzy monster just grinned in return.

“Not important. What is important is that we have a plan today,” they hummed. “Last night Dr. Gaster was down here drinking with the king. King Asgore is considering giving Gaster an actual lab to work with.”

“Wait, I thought he already had one?” Papyrus settled down to eat, furrowing his brow. “I remember being little and watching him leave for work each day.”

“He had one but once his focus shifted onto SOUL studies, he retired from that lab to work from home. To my understanding the old lab he used was turned into a hospital.”

“Oh.” He let that information absorb, eating his pancakes slowly. “So he’d move the mermaid- sorry, sans - he’d move sans and their babies to a heavily guarded lab.”

“Yes. Is that their name now?” Sipyon poured him a glass of orange juice, bustling around to set up more spaces for everyone else. 

“I came up with it. Undyne insisted. Which, by the way, she can somewhat talk to them.”

“Oh, that’s great. I can’t wait till I meet them.” They sighed. “I already came up with a plan… I’d like to run it by you and Undyne first as it’s…. Drastic.”

“Drastic might be what we need,” tilting his head, Papyrus pushed the remaining food around. “We’re going up against two powerful people.”

“Well, we have more. And I’d like to see you tell Undyne to her face she’s not powerful,” he chuckled. “C’mon, have a little faith,” they came around to clap him on the back. 

“You’re right, we can do it,” he smiled up at Sipyon. They both looked to Undyne as she walked in, clearly not a morning person. She plopped down into a chair and slowly started eating.

“Would you like some coffee?” Sipyon asked.

“Oh, god yes,” she groaned. “I don’t know why you’re always so chipper, Pap.”

“Positive mental attitude!” He gave her a cheeky grin.

“Yeah, yeah bone man.”

“Is Asgore still here?” Papyrus noticed three extra places set. 

“Yes, he felt it best he didn’t drive after drinking,” Sipyon finally sat down to eat his own food. “He will be leaving after breakfast though, to my understanding.”

“Okay. So what’s your plan? Are we waiting till Asgore’s gone?” Undyne perked up at the mention of a plan. 

“Well, first you guys need to get the keys. As far as I’m aware, Dr. Gaster keeps them on his person or hidden in his study somewhere. I never clean in there so I’m not sure where’d they be, but he does keep them in there when he leaves the house.” They explained as they poured themself some coffee. “So we just need to give him an excuse to leave.”

“Won’t he be suspicious, though?” Undyne frowned. “He doesn’t seem like the type to not think of every possibility. I’m sure he already knows that Papyrus wants to take sans back.”

“Perhaps I could take him out on a family trip?” Papyrus suggested. “I did come here with the intention of growing closer to him, I’m sure he knew that. It wouldn’t be that far fetched to want some time with him.”

“Yeah, that’d work! But what about me?” Undyne finished off the last of her coffee. Clearly it did her some good, she was getting hyped up again. “I doubt he’d be happy about me staying behind, or coming with you guys. He doesn’t like me very much.”

“Uhm…” Papyrus buried his head in his hands, trying hard to think of a solution. 

“Maybe I could offer to help Undyne bake something? In celebration of you guys completing your midterms.” Sipyon began cleaning up plates as they finished. “I don’t think he suspects me of anything, yet.”

“I think that could work,” Papyrus shrugged at Undyne, who nodded. 

“Is his study locked?” she stood with a stretch. 

“Yes, but the key is in his bedroom, which isn’t locked.”

“Okay, but how are we going to get all the eggs and the mermaid out in time?” Gently setting dishes in the sink, he rinsed them quickly before loading the dishwasher. “I doubt I can keep my father distracted for that long; he hates being out in public.”

“If he comes back too early I have something else in mind.” Sipyon sighed. “I’m going to get fired for this.”

“You really willing to risk your job for this?” Undyne nodded at him from where she was leaning. “I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t.”

“Wait what are you going to do?!” Papyrus was Extremely Concerned. 

“Of course I’m willing to risk my job!” He seemed offended. “These are people’s lives. I can land on my feet whatever happens, they can’t.”

“That’s very noble of you,” Undyne said at the same time Papyrus said “Because they don’t have feet.” 

“What?”

“What?” Papyrus shook his head. “I said that’s very noble of you.”

“Okay, Papyrus,” she laughed fondly. “So what are you going to do?” Undyne turned curiously back to Sipyon. 

“Well…. I-” Gaster padded into the room, immediately going for the coffee. 

“Good morning, everyone,” he drolled, wincing as he rubbed his head. 

“Would you like some pain reliever?” Sipyon offered politely, but Gaster was already declining. 

“I already took some, thank you though.”

“We just ate breakfast, sorry we didn’t wait for you, father,” the skeleton fiddled with his skirt, unwilling to look him in the face. 

“That’s alright, I’m not very hungry,” he sighed. “Undyne, I’m pretty sure your father is getting ready to leave.”

Papyrus gasped quietly, looking to Undyne, who was grimacing. “I’m actually not going with him,” she managed, slinging an arm around Papyrus. “I wanted to stay for a bit and maybe bake something in celebration. Y’know, cause he just finished his midterm?”

“Uh huh,” Gaster said slowly, staring at her while he sipped his coffee. “Well. I’m sure Sipyon could assist you in the kitchen.” He gave them a pointed look. 

“And Father, I was wondering if you’d want to go out and spend the day together?” Papyrus struggled away from Undyne. “I’m going to be leaving soon and to be honest, I came here mostly hoping to hang out with you.”

“So I suspected,” he squinted at his son. “I know you’re upset with me, why would you still want to spend time together?” 

“...Even if you’re doing things I don’t approve of… you’re still my father.” It was a very convincing performance. And partially the truth. While Papyrus would prefer not to associate with people who did deplorable things, and probably would limit contact with his father after this, he still craved that affection from the person who gave birth to him. 

Gaster searched his son's face for a minute, and apparently whatever he saw satisfied him, as he nodded. “Sure. Where would you want to go?”

~*~*~

Finally, it was just Undyne and Sipyon in the house. Asgore hadn’t stayed for breakfast when he came out of the guest room and Undyne was giving him the cold shoulder. He had wished everyone well then driven himself home, telling Undyne if she ended up needing a ride anyway he should call her. Papyrus and Gaster had left soon after to go to the park nearby to look at some ducks. 

They had made their move about 20 minutes after they left, to make sure they weren’t coming back. Entering Gaster’s room, they found a pile of loose keys in the nightstand under a false bottom. Sipyon unfortunately wasn’t sure exactly what key it was, so they grabbed all of them, trying them on the study door.

Weirdly enough, none of them worked. Undyne tried them all twice to be sure. Finally she got fed up and went back to the kitchen, Sip following closely. “Where’s the junk drawer?” she asked and upon being directed outside to the shed, she searched around for some spare paperclips, finally finding two that would work. On their way back to the study, she bent them, one into a strong ‘L’ shape, the other into a small hook. Kneeling by the door, she quickly picked the lock. 

“We should’ve just done that first,” Sipyon observed. 

“Yeah, well. I didn’t think of it till now!” 

They checked all drawers in the study for a false bottom but it seemed Gaster expected that, as there were none. They split up their searching, each in half of the room. After nearly 30 minutes, in desperation, Sipyon started to pull every book off the shelf, one by one and finally found one that was hollowed out inside, containing a ring with four keys on it. 

The plush monster made sure to put the books back exactly as he had found them and they relocked the study on their way out, racing to the basement. One of the keys unlocked that door, and one the front door of the secret lab. The main room didn’t hold the egg anywhere, so they turned first to the shower room, which still had the kiddie pool in it, but no egg. There was only one room left, one with a keypad. 

“Shit,” Undyne frowned. “Did you see a code anywhere?” Sipyon shook their head. “Me neither.”

“How do we get through? I betcha the egg’s behind that door.”

“Of course it is,” the fish monster scowled before stepping back, directing Sipyon to do that himself. He took her advice and she summoned a spear. 

“Wait, that’ll set off an alarm!” 

“Well, we just gotta work fast, then.” She gritted her teeth, preparing her attack. “As soon as this alarm trips we need to grab the egg and run. We should load sans into the car before they even get here, maybe even start driving if we have the time.”

“I’m not the fastest,” they admitted, “But I’ll work as fast as I can.”

Upon his confirmation to Undyne, she nodded back at them and threw her spear hard with a yell of ‘NGAHHHH!!’

The keypad cracked in a shower of sparks and the locks on the door clicked. An extremely high pitched, rapid beeping was heard, coupled with the green light that drenched everything. Paying nothing any heed aside from a wince, Undyne pushed open the doors, racing into the room, Sipyon right on her heels.

The egg sat in a glass container, a heating pad under it. The container had a lock on it, and Sipyon carefully unlocked it then grabbed the egg. Immediately their SOUL pinged, and both monsters looked down in trepidation to find it now green.

“Take the egg,” he wasted no time, shoving it into her arms, making sure she had a supportive grip. “You need to be quick, get sans and his eggs into Papyrus’ car. His keys should be hung up near the door, they took Dr. Gaster’s car.”

“Shit,” Undyne could feel herself start to panic a little. “You’re going to be caught!”

“That doesn’t matter right now,” they hissed. “Please, go!” 

Without another word, Undyne turned and ran out of the lab. 

She made it to the pool in record time, scrambling up the ladder. Sans took notice of her urgency and met her at the top, their eyes filling with tears when they saw their egg. They gingerly took it from her, cradling it close. 

“We don’t have a lot of time,” Undyne panted. “We need to get you and your eggs out of here.” sans looked at her in concern, aware something bad was happening but unsure exactly what it was. “Damn it,” she looked around for anything to transport the mermaid to the car but found nothing. Running to the shed, she found nothing as well. 

Looking around the backyard again, she started to get an idea when she noticed there was no fence, this being a fancy rich person’s house in the middle of nowhere. There would be trees to navigate but she could probably get Papyrus’ car through. 

“Be right back!” she yelled at the mermaid, racing back inside. She reached the front door, slamming hard against the wall to stop herself. Reaching to the keyhooks, she found it completely empty. 

“Looking for this?” Spinning around, she met Gaster, who had Papyrus’ key dangling from a finger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> breaking and entering
> 
> that's it i think


	12. run

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this chapter kicked my butt.... sorry if it's shorter than usual!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> see end notes for in depth warnings

“What did you do to Papyrus?!!” Undyne yelled, already in a fighting stance, a spear pointed at him.

“Don’t be so dramatic,” Gaster frowned. “As much as I despise what you lot are doing I would never harm my son.”

“So where is he?” Undyne wasn’t convinced.

“At the mall,” he waved off her concerns, tucking the key into his front pocket. “As soon as we arrived I had him go get some food while I found a table. He’ll most likely be looking for me right now.” The mall was about 30 minutes away by car. Papyrus was very fast but even running it’d take him an hour to get home.

“See, I didn’t think to grab his key until I got home,” Gaster drawled, not making any move to defend himself. “What you should’ve done was grab the mermaid and their babies and had them loaded into the car right at the start. Of course someone would have to stay in the car with them, to prevent them from drying out. Then the other would go to lab, get the egg and then… oh no, they’d be stuck wouldn’t they,” he smirked at her and she growled. 

“You better not hurt them!”

“Who, Sipyon?” the scientist tilted his head. He was really starting to piss Undyne off, looking as if he hadn’t a care in the world. “Oh, I won’t. I actually quite like them. Of course, he will no longer be employed in my house, but I’ll make sure to write him a glowing recommendation.” 

“So, what,” Undyne sneered. “You’re going to take the egg back? Good luck getting it a second time, sans already has it. Just let them go!” 

“Well, I honestly didn’t want unnecessary harm to come to them,” Gaster sucked in a breath. “But if it has to be done there’s not much else I can do about it.”

“Asgore said they were supposed to be well taken care of! Even if you had all the eggs with the parent gone he wouldn’t allow it!” 

“And why not? With the parent sadly passing away due to illness, I would be the best replacement. I have all the equipment to care for them,” he shrugged. “We don’t know how mermaids socialize. They could be solitary! Even dropping them off in the sea, another mermaid might never pick them up.”

“I won’t let you hurt them,” Undyne growled, and with a shout, she launched a spear at him. Gaster took the hit no problem, his HP only taking a slight dip. When she sent another one flying at him, he sidestepped. “Just leave them alone!” 

Gaster was officially pulled into a battle, the world fading to black around them. The boundaries stretched around the entire foyer, stopping just shy of the walls. As it was Undyne who initiated, it was the other’s turn first. 

Pinging her SOUL purple, the scientist threw the common white bullets every monster could create. They went slowly down the lines, easy to dodge. Grinding her teeth, Undyne was seething. He wasn’t even trying!! 

His turn was over without her taking any damage and Undyne CHECKed him. People commonly believed that CHECKing was a waste of a turn, but Undyne learned in training that it was never a waste to know what a person was capable of. ‘Better overestimate than under’, her instructor had said. 

* W.D. Gaster - Atk 65 Def 70

* Not worried in the slightest.

He had only slightly higher Atk than her, but 10 more points of defense. She would have to go for quicker attacks that did less damage, then. A hard hitting spear would be relatively slow and few, something he could dodge.

Her turn was over, and Gaster was about to put her through another round of bullets when the door slammed open and an out of breath Papyrus stumbled in. “No one! No one…. Fight!” he panted.

Both monsters stared at him in shock. “How did you get back so soon?” Gaster asked.

Straightening, the skeleton pulled out his phone. “Uber. But! As I was saying! No one fight!” he strode into the FIGHT, pushing Undyne’s hand down from where it was raised, ready to prepare another spear. “I have a solution that I think all of us will be happy with,” he beamed, looking in between the two of them. 

“And what might that be?” Gaster raised an eyebrow. Faster than he could react, Papyrus turned his father’s SOUL blue, racing over him to push him to the ground. The man hit the ground hard, grunting upon impact. 

“Front pocket!” Undyne yelled and Papyrus dug around, scrambling off of him once he found it. Grabbing her arm, they fled the battle, running toward the backyard. 

“Get sans and the eggs ready, I’m going to get my car and drive through the trees!

"Gotcha!" she vaulted up the ladder while Papyrus split into the trees. sans jerked to protect their eggs before realizing who it was. They looked nervous without Papyrus there. "We gotta go!" she hissed, holding her arms out. The mermaid luckily seemed to understand, or at least understood the urgency. 

Gathering all their eggs, they seemed to hesitate before going to place them into her hands. Instead she yanked them out of the water. They squealed, wide eyed with alarm but she wasted no time, scrambling down the ladder. 

"Stop!" Gaster burst through the back door, grimacing in pain as he ran at them. "You're going against the king! This is treason!"

Undyne paid him no mind, getting ready to sprint around him, but sans had other plans in mind. The mermaid snarled, summoning those same bones they threw at her yesterday. Releasing them all at once, sans summoned more as Undyne's boots pounded against the grass, carrying them closer to the forest's edge. 

Gaster tried to swerve around the attacks but there were just too many. He was hit with several, but they each did one point of damage. Laughing in disbelief, he stood again to give chase when he felt his magic turn sickly, leaching more HP from him. Rather than the 10 or so points the attacks should have taken from him, it took nearly double that. 

Looking up from his HP bar just in time, Gaster grabbed the bone flying at him just in time to prevent the sharp point from impaling his forehead. The attack burned his hand, very unlike a normal attack. Hissing in alarm, he dropped it to look at his palm, which was singed, oozing with infected purple magic. 

By this time Undyne was well gone, leaping over roots and ducking under tree branches. Gaster scowled and quickly limped after her, but no longer with the intent to catch her. 

Papyrus was halfway into the forest, his car awkwardly squished between the trees. He reached over to throw open the passenger door and Undyne slid in quickly, making sure sans' tail was in before slamming the door. Throwing the car into reverse, Papyrus tried his best to navigate through the trees again. He made it almost the entire way, but when he tried to straighten the car to reenter the driveway, the front light on the passenger's side got crunched by a raised root.

"Noo," Papyrus moaned, but kept going. sans was extremely stiff in Undyne's arms, trying to prevent themself from squeezing their eggs too tightly. 

Yelping when the car drifted to face the road, sans curled over their eggs, burying his face against Undyne's chest. She tried to soothe them but swore when Papyrus had to slam on the breaks to avoid hitting his father's car, which had just barricaded them in. He had thrown an arm out to stop his passengers from flying out the windshield, but they still moved forward. Luckily, Undyne had reflexively straightened her arm out, slamming into the dashboard to stop their momentum.

No one knew how the airbags hadn't gone off, but wasting no time, Papyrus pealed off back into the forest, leaving Gaster to give chase.

Breaking from the treeline, the skeleton brought them onto the smooth road and increased his speed, huffing when he saw his father leave the forest as well in his rearview mirror.

While Papyrus' car was faster than the other, Gaster knew generally where they were going. They had to go through the city to get to Ebott Sea; Papyrus would have to slow down drastically once there. Not to mention that sans couldn't be out of the water for long. And don't even get started on the eggs, who knew how long they'd last. 

"We have to stop to get water," Papyrus muttered, then noticed Undyne's gritted jaw. "Are you okay?"

"My arm's broken," she ground out. "We can stop at a gas station and get gallon water," the fish monster took a deep breath. 

"Do you want me to drop you off at a hospital?" her friend tentatively suggested, facing forward with a poker face when she glared at him, saying nothing.

They drove in quiet for awhile, no one reaching to turn on the radio, the hum of the tires the only noise. About twenty minutes in sans made a worried noise and started to lick their eggs.Their tail looked duller than normal but the nearest stop was still miles away. 

"Hang in there," Undyne muttered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> violence, details of injury, children (eggs) in danger


	13. rage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> yall........ i had nothing planned ahead.... ignore all the plot holes and stupid actions of the characters......... none of us had any idea this was coming....
> 
> that being said.. enjoy ;3c

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> see detailed warnings in end notes

As they approached the city, Papyrus brought his car down to 40, as opposed to the 90 he had been going before. Sans had long since stopped trying to keep the eggs moist, as their tongue had dried out too, a sure sign their magic was failing. Screeching to a stop at the first small market they found, Papyrus hopped out and ran to get some water. Undyne patted sans’ skull when they whined, their eyesockets barely open, eyelights extinguished. “It’s ok,” she soothed awkwardly. Soft and caring was never her forte. 

Emerging from the store with a cart packed full of water, Papyrus wheeled it to a stop near them. “It might be best that you sit with them in the back. I’m not sure how all the electrical bits will hold up with this water,” he explained, opening the door to help her get out. When they managed to get situated in the backseat again, Papyrus took a moment to heal Undyne’s arm as best as he could in a pinch, then upended the first water jug on the mermaid. He made sure to spread it evenly over their tail, then opened another one, dumping it on their eggs and parched bones. Sans closed their eyes, enjoying the cool liquid run over them again. However, it was like throwing a cup of water onto desert ground, quickly soaked up and not enough. 

“My car might be properly ruined but that should hold them for a bit,” Papyrus sighed. “Feel free to splash them whenever,” he set the rest of the water on the floorboards, quickly wheeling the cart back into the store before he climbed back into the driver seat. 

“I looked it up and there’s only one beach in Ebott City, but we have no way of knowing where exactly sans was picked up,” Undyne tipped up a cold water bottle so sans could drink it without letting go of their offspring. “It’s a pretty big beach.”

“Maybe they’ll be able to recognize something familiar?” Papyrus pulled out of the market carefully, pulling out into traffic. "I hope there will be someone there for them."

~*~*~

Someone was indeed there for them. 

Parked inconspicuously near the entrance, off to the side where he couldn't easily be seen, Gaster waited. He had assumed they would stop, therefore giving him enough time to get to the beach first. His gamble had paid off, and now he lurked, waiting for his son to arrive.

Ebott Beach, cleverly named as always by King Asgore, wasn't particularly large. It was a quaint thing next to the city where foot traffic was heavy. There was a small fair on the boardwalk, a tourist attraction mostly for visiting humans. 

With only one entrance to the actual beach, they would have to come through here to bring the mermaid to the sea. 

Sure enough, after another 30 minutes of waiting, his son's red convertible eased into the paved lot. He circled for a moment, then parked as close to the water as he could. 

Sitting perfectly still, Gaster waited patiently while they got out of the car. Undyne was holding the mermaid, who clutched their eggs close to them. They looked a little worse for wear, but overall were perky, straining for a view of the water. As they trudged along to the beach, Gaster finally stopped his car, stepping out. 

“I wouldn’t do that, if I were you.” he stepped into view, his hands folded behind his back. Of course, only Papyrus understood what he was saying, but they all whipped around, frowning at him.

“Do you always insist on showing up like a cheesy movie villain,” Undyne sneered. 

“Do you always insist on stealing my property?” he fired back, switching to signing now that they were looking at him. 

“They’re not property!” Gaster looked to his son when he started to cry again. “They’re a person!” 

Sighing, Gaster fixed him with a sympathetic look, one Papyrus bristled at. “Son, whether they are or not doesn’t matter. Asgore has already given me permission to keep them and-” He was cut off when Undyne spun around and started sprinting to the water, mermaid in her arms. Papyrus raced after her.

“I tried to warn them,” Gaster said, exasperated. “Honestly, why do they have such a hard time listening?”

As Undyne and Papyrus approached the shoreline, they caught sight of Royal Guards lined up all along the beach. When the guards caught sight of them they all moved toward them until their view of the sea was blocked off. Sans was growling low in their chest, panting heavily. 

“Hey, guys,” one of the guards greeted from the depths of his helmet, his engraving reading RG 01. “So like, King Asgore told us you’d be coming with. Uhm. A mermaid? And he told us not to let you through,” he shrugged, his armor clanking. 

“We need to, though,” Papyrus took a deep breath and tried to explain. Gaster strode onto the sand casually, standing behind them a small distance away, watching passively. “This mermaid is going to be unethically experimented on.” Said mermaid was attempting to curl further into   
Undyne’s arms, holding their eggs tightly while they glared at the members of the guard. “They just laid eggs and they and their babies need to be returned to their home!” 

The guard shifted uncomfortably, looking at each other. “Well,” said a different member of the guard, this one RG 04. “I hope you can understand, but we only have one side of the story,” she explained. “We need to wait for King Asgore to get here before we can do anything.” Her whiskers twitched from where they were poking from her helmet. “If you guys don’t agree with the King’s decision, you can speak to our Judge.” The offer was not the worst, but every second it took for an answer was another second sans and their babies were away from home and possibly family. 

“That’ll take too long!” Undyne gnashed her teeth. “I’m training for the guard, I know how this process works. If you guys don’t agree with a command, you can veto it!”

“We’d still need to wait for the Judge to get here, then,” another guard piped up. 

“There’s no time!” She yelled, clearly frustrated. “They can’t survive out of water! Their babies will die!” 

“Calm down, please,” RG 02 stepped forward. “One of our team can go get some water and a pool or something to put it in. There’s a shop that rents canoes,” he pointed out. “That could work.”

“How long would it take the Judge to get here,” Papyrus tentatively asked, already resigned to waiting.

“They’re in another county right now, it’ll take a few hours,” RG 04 said apologetically. “We’ll make sure you and your friend are as comfortable as we can, in the meantime.”

“This is ridiculous,” Gaster scoffed, then signed when everyone was looking at him. “Asgore clearly stated the mermaid and their offspring were to go to me. They can wait for the Judge and then come and find me when they arrive. I’ll be at my house.”

“That would work if you already had them,” RG 04 explained. “But right now they’re in these folk’s possession, and we’re not going to take them, only make them wait for the Judge. They’re allowed to disagree with the King.”

“Why didn’t we think of that sooner,” Papyrus hissed to Undyne, who looked a bit embarrassed.

“Adrenaline?” she shrugged. “Urgency?”

“So we’re all just going to wait here, until the King and his Judge get here,” a guard said. “I’ll go and get the canoe and some water,” they offered, walking away.

“That will not be necessary,” a young voice said, and everyone snapped their gazes to the source.

“What now?” Gaster scowled, his expression faltering once he saw who it was. 

All three royal children were striding toward them, Prince Asriel and Princette Frisk close behind Princex Chara, the one who spoke. Frisk ran toward Papyrus to give him a hug, but thought better, eyes wide when sans snarled at them. 

“It’s okay,” Papyrus pulled them in for a hug. “They’re just protective. I missed you!” he gave them a strong hug, lifting them off their feet.

“What are you doing here?” Undyne questioned, readjusting her grip on the mermaid when they started squirming. 

“We overheard Dad talking to Gaster over the phone,” Asriel explained. Papyrus regretfully hadn’t seen him in awhile either, what with college and all. He was quite a bit taller than last time they hung out. His horns were starting to curl and he had a small goatee. He had dyed the tips of his hair black, ‘to better reflect my black pit of a SOUL’ he had said. “Frisk insisted we come bail you guys out,” he sighed. 

“Again,” Chara smiled helpfully. 

“The team's back!” Frisk exclaimed, planting a sloppy smooch on Pap’s cheekbone. They looked like they were considering doing the same to Undyne, then glanced nervously at the glowering mermaid and didn’t. 

“Excuse me!” Gaster snapped, getting everyone’s attention. “This matter doesn’t concern you!” 

“It does now,” Chara’s smirk turned darker, moving to stand next to Frisk in front of Undyne and sans. Both kids looked expectantly to Asriel, who stood to the side, arms folded over his chest. Frisk motioned insistently and he groaned, plodding over to take up guard as well. “We are going to put this mermaid back in the water. None of you are to touch us, unless you would like to answer to our mother, of course” they smiled again. 

The Royal Guards shuffled nervously, looking to one another for guidance. The young royals all positioned themselves so no one could reach sans without touching them and Undyne started to walk backward, keeping a good grip on sans. “See ya dickface!” She spat at Gaster. 

Growing more and more frustrated, Gaster acted on impulse. “You can’t have them!” he said, not that anyone could understand him but Papyrus, reaching to shove Frisk out of the way. Everyone shouted at once, lunging towards Gaster to stop him but before anyone could get a chance hundreds of bones erupted from the ground, spraying sand everywhere. 

The bones trapped everyone in place, impaling several guards and Gaster. A couple immobilized Papyrus, long bone attacks stuck between his ribs. The only ones untouched were Undyne, sans, and the three kids. Everyone looked to sans in shock, who also stared at the carnage in confusion. 

There was a snarl behind them, and Undyne whirled around, met with the view of a very angry, blood red skeleton mermaid, clawing their way up the beach.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> royal guards appear, who kinda act like police. they're not violent at all, but with everything going on it might hit a sour note with some people, not that i blame anyone!! 
> 
> there's also a violent scene, including kids being put in danger, and people being impaled (non graphically). it's all magic, so there's no blood or gore, but people are hurt.


	14. reunited

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> uwu

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> see end notes for detailed warnings

“Be careful, okay?” red grumbled, gripping sans’ hand tightly. “It’s bad enough we even gotta be this close.”

“Relax,” sans’ eyesockets were squinted. He was already enjoying the sun filtering through the water. It glinted off of him, making the gold flecks covering him shine brightly. red almost got distracted watching his pretty mate, but snapped to attention when he continued. “No one ever comes over here.”

“That we know of,” his mate huffed. “C’mon why don’t we go down to the heating vents? You can get even more warmth there!” 

Sans fixed him with a deadpan. “It’s not the same and you know that. It’ll be fine! You’ve got to stop worrying so much.”

“Fine, fine,” he finally conceded, looking around the area for somewhere as secluded as possible. “Just be quick.”

“Have you ever sunbathed before?” sans asked, amused. “It’s not all that quick. And you hovering around worrying is gonna bum me out so why don’t you look for something to eat?” he suggested. “I’ve heard surface fish taste better.”

Watching his mate debate between having a conniption and conceding was pretty funny. Sans winked at him then lifted himself onto an outcropping partially in the water. Stretching his arms over his head, sans yawned wide, draping his torso over a smooth incline of rocks. Red popped up beside him, huffing again. “If i’m gonna get ya some food ya better stay here,” he placed his hands on the rock next to him, tapping his claws nervously. 

“I will, dad,” sans teased, stretching his tail out behind him, hoisting himself with some difficulty further up on the rocks. “You’ve been such a worry-wart recently.” 

Red stared incredulously. “Yeah!? Can you blame me??”

“Red,” sans leaned forward to clank his teeth to his mate’s. “Calm down, okay? I’ll be fine, i promise.” 

The mer seemed to relax into the kiss, resting his forehead against sans’ for a second. “Okay, okay… fine. I’ll go get some food for you and the small fry,” he kissed his clavicle, then his stomach where the eggs were homed. “Be right back.” With one last kiss red was gone below the surface again. Sighing, sans stretched out, thoroughly enjoying the sun. 

As red dove below the surface he had to fight his instincts to return to his mate. He was perfectly content with hunting for him, but leaving him in such a vulnerable place had all of his alarms blaring. On a normal day red would listen to his instincts but ever since sans got pregnant red’s been extremely jumpy, even around friends they both trusted. His normally chill mate had gotten pretty pissed from all the hovering, so red had to learn to back off a little. 

Red hadn’t even been sure if sans had wanted kids at first. Red never wanted to bring it up, but once his brother had grown he found himself missing a little mer to take care of. Sans had never shown an interest in children. All his siblings had been older than him, so he really had no experience, but when a small human mer was found by their pod, scared and frightened, sans naturally fell into a brotherly role. At that point, while red still wasn’t 100% sure, he had gathered enough courage and asked sans if he’d like to have children. He was ready to be shot down, but he so rarely asked for anything, sans just couldn’t say no. Neither had cared who carried the eggs, and sans volunteered. 

Expecting the pregnancy to be easy had been a big mistake on sans’ part. It was, in fact, not just laying around waiting. Among all the mood swings (on red’s part too, as they were drawing from his magic as well), cramps, nausea and the like, he was always hungry now. His pod always tried to keep up with the appetite of pregnant mers but red had to pitch in more often and help hunt. 

Sans’ clan had always had a more passive style of hunting, preferring traps and the like, but red and his brother had always caught their food themselves. When they met sans and his pod, red thought it was heaven. Not having to work for food?? Sign him up! However, presently, red hadn’t thought to bring any nets, so the old classic way it was. 

There were many small tunnels and caves around the area, some even going into the rocky mountain sans was currently resting behind. Red was relieved to find no sign of land dweller interference around the area. They were unlikely to be disturbed. 

As fish darted to and fro, red swam to the side of a tunnel, laying flat in the sand whilst dimming the glow of his magic. The fish he had startled away soon forgot and returned, schooling around in the small cavern. Slowly, as to not disturb the water, he summoned small, sharp bones beside him, aiming very carefully. When he released the attacks they hit their mark perfectly and he allowed himself a surge of pride. Even after a couple of years with his mate’s pod he hadn’t gone too soft. 

Quickly collecting the fish before the blood would attract something undesirable he shoved them with the other supplies into a small woven bag he had taken to carrying around ever since sans became pregnant. It never hurt to be prepared.

Lunch successfully secured, he swiftly swam back to his mate. As he neared the surface, his eyelights grew wide, pleased with the view of his mate happily sunning himself. However, he instinctively flinched back when he took notice of a large shadow in his peripheral. His SOUL sunk and he cried out, swimming as fast as he could to the surface, to sans. 

“Sans!” he cried as soon as he broke the surface, hoping to grab him with blue magic. Sans shot up, looking at him in alarm. His startled expression turned to fear when something grabbed hold of him - a net, they both realized too late. With no clear exit, he couldn’t get sans out with blue magic, and attempting to drag him down with the hopes that the weight would capsize the boat would only hurt sans and their eggs. Spearing sharpened bones at the point of connection of the boat to the net did nothing. Whatever the cord was made of was too thick and tough to cut through, he’d have to sit there and saw. 

By now red was closer to sans, and he reached out, his claws barely missing the ropes as sans was dragged up onto the deck of the ship. 

“Red!” sans wailed, attempting to reach out to him through the small gaps in the netting. “Red, no…” he sobbed, his voice fading as he was pulled onto the boat. 

“You fucker!” red screamed, trying to pierce the hull of the ship with everything he could muster. He scratched and clawed at the metal, a stinging pain raking up his arms with every slash. “You bastard! Bring him back!!” 

The ship started to move again, and he swam over to where the propeller was starting to spin. He reached out to try and rip it off, but it started up too fast, the bones in his hands getting sliced pretty deep by the spinning metal. Paying no attention to the wound spilling foam into the water, he summoned a bone. Just as he was about to jam it into the rudder, the boat lurched forward, speeding away from him. 

Red gave chase, but was quickly left behind. He yelled for sans as long as he could, but eventually his voice cracked and he doubled over, coughing hard. When he had recovered, the ship was nowhere to be found. 

Not one to give up easily, red followed the path it should’ve taken, all the way to the docks. He lurked beneath the pier where no one could see him, searching for the boat. He found it tethered to one of the wooden ports near the very end. Snarling lowly, he summoned the biggest, sharpest attack he could conjure and sent it straight through the hull of the ship. It filled with water quickly, and by the time red had regained enough energy to see clearly, it was almost completely sunken. However, sans was nowhere to be found.

People above him were running to and fro, shouting things at each other as they presumably tried to stop the descent of the boat. Whining low in his throat, he dived down again, laying on the soft sand the docks were staked in. He fought hard to stay awake, knowing going unconscious here was too dangerous, but a wave of hopelessness crashed over him, and he gave in, falling deep asleep. 

~*~*~

When he awoke, it was in his brother’s arms. Still disoriented, he didn’t think too hard about how he was found, only that sans was in danger. He attempted to say something to him, but everything came out slurred. Edge shushed him, and red didn’t argue, dropping off again. He drifted in and out of sleep on the swim back, and the next time he was able to stay awake, he was in the room sans and he shared. 

Edge didn’t like visiting sans’ pod, so the fact that he had brought him here was nice. When he sat up from their soft, soft moss bed, he winced. His hands had been bandaged to the nines, even the tips of his fingers had been encased in woven seagrass bandages. 

His head was killing him, and he groaned, looking around the room. It was just how they had left it, before they traveled too close to the surface- so close that sans….. 

He started to cry just as Edge entered the room, a tray full of food and new bandages balanced in his hands. Startling once he saw his brother was awake and crying, he hesitated before setting the tray down gently, swimming over to sit beside him stiffly. Edge could count the number of times he’d seen red cry on one hand, and he had no idea what to do now. Red had always chased him away whenever he got emotional; this was new territory, to have his small brother sit still beside him, his crying silent other than small gasps. Hesitantly, Edge slowly reached an arm out to him, offering a hug rather than forcing one on him. Red’s skull immediately crashed with his ribcage as he threw himself into the hug, his shoulders shaking as he finally sobbed aloud. 

“Sans is gone,” red cried, curling into his brother’s embrace. “He’s gone…”

“....I know…. I’m so sorry, red,” Edge muttered, wrapping both arms around him, drawing him in to sit on his lap. 

“I knew we- we shouldn’t h-have gone…” Red gripped onto Edge’s middle with all his might, sobs wracking his frame. “I knew i- it was dangerous!” 

“Shh, brother…” he wanted to say it wasn’t his fault but knowing red, he wouldn’t take that well at all - not that Edge could blame him. So he just sat with him in silence, rocking him gently until red’s tears were all gone. 

“I don’t know what to do now,” Red whispered, his voice broken and defeated.

~*~*~

After red had healed enough to be let out of confinement, he immediately returned to the place sans had been taken. While he knew sans was most likely gone for good, he refused to let himself give up on his mate; he’d sooner die. 

The first day he searched the shallows for any sign of sans. Other than a few blue scales he found, fluttering around the decks of the sunken boat he was taken on, he found none. Red was smart, he knew he had no chance of finding sans on his own, not when he had been taken on land, but that didn’t stop him. Every night he drug himself to the beach, ignoring the pain in his tail as it was scraped against small rocks and the like. 

He found a good point to sit and would call for sans all night, hoping that his mate somehow heard him and would find a way back to him. Every night for weeks red held a vigil, keeping up his mournful calls. Land dwellers sometimes looked for what caused the noise, but anytime they came too close to where he was hiding, he would snarl and scratch at the ground, and that usually scared them off. Whoever wasn’t scared off, well. They weren’t much of a problem laying at the bottom of the sea. 

Edge tried to convince him a couple of times to stop, something about how he couldn’t stand seeing red tear himself apart like this. Sometimes people from sans’ pod came with him. The closest to convincing him to come back was Alphys, sans’ best friend. She was grieving as well, and say with him for a couple of nights, silently mourning as well. She was much less suited for colder weather, so he would curl up with her, eventually forcing her to go back to the deeps where she would be warm. She had wanted him to come but he just couldn’t. Despite Edge’s protests, Alphys said she understood and left it at that. Red never directly interacted with her much, given how shy she was, but he gained a deep respect for her. 

Night after night red dragged himself over rocks, willing his voice not to break as he called for his mate, never earning a reply. During the day he’d wait below the docks. Now that rumors had gotten out about the vicious beast lurking around the area, much less people were willing to visit. 

Thats why, one day, when he was lazily drifting in the waters below, when he heard clanking, he startled awake, flipping back over. Barely peeking out of the waters, only enough so his eyesockets showed, he saw a bunch of heavily armored land dwellers line up along the sand. Huh. Maybe people were finally trying to get rid of him? Tough luck for them, red wouldn’t leave even if it meant the end of the world.

He watched them for a while, then got bored. He backfloated again, halfheartedly keeping an eye on them, moving back below the docks. They all suddenly moved at once, and red tried to see where they were going, but from his vantage point couldn’t see. He heard a bunch of people talking, then shouting. He couldn’t take it anymore and gripped onto the wooden dock, lifting himself a little to see what was going on. 

Red couldn’t breathe. Right there, _right there!!_ Was sans. His perfect mate, held in the arms of a blue land dweller. He couldn’t see his face, but he knew the color of his magic better than anything. Oh, how he missed his pretty speckles. When the armored people moved to block his view of them, he growled a bit, splashing back into the water to lunge to the sand so he could get up. When he was on his way up, he suddenly heard shouting again, and he paused, pushing himself up on his hands to see. 

A monster had lunged toward sans.

White hot anger filled his throat and the next thing he knew, attacks had sprung up all over the beach, leaving a perfect circle around the monster carrying sans - he couldn’t risk hurting the mer. 

Everyone who was still able to spun around to look at him. Red only now realized he was growling, and it was cut off when he finally was able to look at sans again. Sans, and their eggs, nestled in the crooks of his arms. The two stared at each other in shock, before sans cried out.

“Red!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> harm of animals (fish) and mentions of (fish) blood, violence, self harm (slightly unintentional, but still self harm), red believes sans is dead and blames himself
> 
> i think thats it? if i missed anything please tell me


	15. an ending

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> see end notes for detailed warnings. 
> 
> a little bit of venting and a comment on the story (tw pet death)
> 
> sorry this has taken so long, i finally got a new laptop because the old one was shocking me qwq so i've been a bit distracted with that...
> 
> also my friends guinea pig died while i was driving her to the hospital and when i got home it was about 12 am and i realized my hamster was dead.. so thats been fun to deal with.. /s
> 
> i'm doing a lot better recently but i've still been a bit busy lately so again, sorry for this taking so long, i was kinda unmotivated for awhile. i hope you can still enjoy! there will be one more, shorted chapter - an epilogue of sorts. i briefly considered making a continuation of basically oneshots of life before sans and pap met and after, but i'm not too sure if i could keep that going for long. however if you're interested just let me know c: there would most likely be a nsfw chapter >.>'

“Wait, wait!” Undyne struggled to hold sans as he started to wriggle out of her grip. Eventually she carefully set him down with the help of Frisk guiding the squirmy mermaid to the ground. It seemed sans hadn’t thought this out very clearly, as he realized as soon as he laid on the sand that he couldn’t crawl toward his mate and hold their kids at the same time. 

“stay where ya are, sweetheart,” red growled, and sans curled his tail slightly, tearing up as he finally heard his mate’s voice again. 

“red,” sans’ voice came out hoarse and shuddery as he tried to contain his emotions. “red, i- i’m so sorry i-”

“be quiet,” red growled again and sans snapped his mouth shut, his jaw quivering. When he was within reaching distance red grabbed a hold of him and dragged him as far as he could. They fumbled with the eggs between them until red held two while sans held the remaining, the smallest one. Mermaids, as it turned out, were not the greatest at traversing land. When the mers struggled to get away, Papyrus automatically went to help, only to hiss as more of his HP was chipped off.

Distracted, both mermaids looked to Papyrus, sans chirping something to his mate. Gaster took the distraction for what it was and grabbed ahold of sans’ SOUL with purple magic, yanking him toward himself. By now the red mermaids attacks were weakened enough that when he strained, Gaster split from the attack with a wet crack, and then he was running. 

Everyone was shouting and as red’s magic had shattered the minute sans was taken, they were chasing after as well, but not much could be heard over sans’ screaming. In his panic attacks were being flung everywhich way, sprouting from the sand and flying vertically at people. Gaster somehow managed to dodge most of them and while his progress was hindered, he was still going. 

As everyone tried to follow, the monsters were suddenly struck by a strong wave of PANIC, one strong enough to make them gasp. The guard, more adept at ignoring intention as a result of their training, still fought to get closer, but they were breathing too heavily, hyperventilating until Gaster and sans were far enough that the feeling lessened. 

One upside to being human, however, was that Chara and Frisk weren’t affected by intent the same as monsters. The two ran past everyone, Frisk snatching up a satchel Asriel held out for them on the way. 

They caught up to Gaster fairly quickly, seeing as how he must not be used to running, while Chara was a rugby player and Frisk went to dance every day. Frisk fumbled with the satchel in their hands as they ran, eventually pulling a round, glass bottle from the bag, discarding it as they ran. In the bottle sloshed a dark blue liquid, and while Frisk really wanted to save the bottle they didn’t have the time to uncork it. 

The two dodged most of the attacks, wincing as they were hit by a few, until finally they were close enough. “Now!” Chara shouted, and Frisk threw the bottle, hitting the ground and shattering just in front of Gaster’s feet before he passed over it. The liquid splashed everywhere, into a deceivingly large thick blue puddle. As soon as his foot touched it, Gaster’s SOUL pinged blue and he grunted as he struggled to keep moving, only to yelp as Chara tackled him to the ground. He abruptly lost his hold on sans and the mermaid’s SOUL pinged back, and he was suddenly falling, trying to twist so he’d land on his back.

Frisk dove to catch them, cursing as they fell to their knees, glass pricking into their skin as they slid, arms outstretched. The mermaid fell into their arms, and they winced as their arms were overextended, but sans was relatively light so luckily nothing too bad happened. sans was breathing heavily, their eyes wide as they stared up at Frisk, who smiled despite their pain.

Papyrus raced up with red in his arms, Asriel at his side. The tall skeleton had been bitten and scratched to hell and back but when red realized where he was being taken he had stopped, eggs clutched tightly in his arms. Before anyone could do anything red screeched, summoning a sharp bone attack to pierce Gaster through, and since Chara was currently pinning the struggling scientist, the teenager too.

“red, stop!” sans shouted, desperately surging in Frisk’s arms, trying to reach him before he would kill the kid. “they helped!” 

The bone froze inches from their back and Undyne quickly snatched Chara off of Gaster while the guards rushed in to pin him in place. Everyone who stepped in the puddle also had their SOULs turned blue but the guard easily hefted a dazed Gaster to his feet. He had hit his head hard on the way down but no one felt too bad for him. 

“...This seems to be a special situation….” RG 02 muttered to them as 03 and 04 hauled Gaster away. Before anyone could react Gaster’s SOUL was turned blue again, and red flung him hard into the ocean. Everyone stared off into the water in shock until Gaster bobbed to the surface with a splash. red grumbled his satisfaction as he was set down and finally, officially reunited with his mate. 

The guard rushed back after Gaster, fishing him out to hurry past the mermaids. “...You guys are free to go,” 02 shrugged. “We’re not going to subdue anyone….aside from the Royal Scientist.” He paused when he noticed Papyrus holding onto his ulna, cracked pretty badly from a nasty bite red gave him. Quickly healing the skeleton, nodding when Papyrus thanked him, he continued. “I’ll need some contact info for the King and his Judge.”

“Of course, thank you so much,” Papyrus breathed a sigh of relief. He gave his and Undyne’s contact information with 02 while 01 and Undyne checked the kids over to make sure they weren’t hurt. Asriel, ever the teenager, was trying his best to act like he wasn’t worried as he healed Frisk’s knees whenever Chara pulled out a piece of glass. 01 was working on their other leg. 

As everyone said their goodbye’s, Papyrus looked around for the mermaids only to discover they were waiting for someone to help them to the water, seeing as how they were so far away from it. sans was chittering with laughter as red nuzzled into his collarbone up to his neck. His face was flushed blue as he pushed red away, directing his attention to the eggs. red’s eyelights grew big and affectionate as he cooed at the eggs.

“‘m sorry i couldn’t be there, darlin’,” he said lowly.

“it’s okay,” sans smiled sadly. “it was my faul-”

“nuh uh,” red was already shaking his head, moving to curl his arms around the eggs and his mate both. “shush with all that.”

As the mermaids talked Undyne and Papyrus chatted as well, discussing what to do next. “Asgore and the Judge are still on their way,” Papyrus said. “Plus we don’t really have anywhere else to be, should we stay here until they arrive?”

“Yeah! We could have a mini vacation before you go back to school!” Undyne exclaimed while Papyrus shuddered at the thought of a vacation. 

“I don’t know if I’d want to stay that long....” Papyrus was quickly tugged on by Frisk, who hung from his shoulders. 

“Pleeeaaase Papyrus?” they released him only to sign. “Mom will let us stay here longer if and adult she knows is with us,” they flashed their best sad puppy look and Chara and Asriel snickered as they all watched him crumble to the look.

“Okay, fine!” he groaned. “I don’t have any of my stuff, though, I didn’t think I’d be staying for the summer,” he admitted.

“It’s pretty easy to go shopping,” Asriel deadpanned and Chara smiled wide next to him.

“We can help you!”

“While I am sure you are very fashionable, I’d prefer to shop for myself! ” he looked at them warily.

“Aww come on, they’re great at helping!” Undyne slung an arm around Frisk and just like that Papyrus was surrounded.

“Okay, okay!” he raised his hands in defeat. “I guess a small v-” he was cut off by red’s indignant chirp. The mermaids laying on the beach were starting to look a little dry and sans was back to licking the eggs while red glared at them. 

“Maybe we should get these guys back first,” Undyne rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly, reaching for red who growled lowly but accepted it. Papyrus scooped sans up, making sure to support them and the eggs. As they walked back to the beach, the kids followed curiously.

“How did you escape with them?” Asriel asked, trying his best to sound aloof.

“Oh! Well…”

~*~*~*~

It came time to say goodbye to the mers. Everyone had waved and cheered for them but it was clear Papyrus needed more time, so they respectfully walked over to the boardwalk for his privacy. red was already in the water with the eggs, having retrieved a bag of some sorts to hold them all in. He was submerged in the water, only his eyes visible, watching diligently from a distance. 

“I hope this isn’t the last time I see you,” Papyrus said from his spot on the shoreline. He anxiously drew meaningless patterns in the sand only for the water to wash up around him and erase them.

sans smiled sadly from where he had anchored himself, partially in the water, but close enough to bring comfort. He chirped something to Papyrus, hesitantly reaching forward to hold his hand, reminiscent of the first time they made contact. “I also wish that I could understand you,” he kept going, somewhat bitterly. “This might be weird but, even though we’ve never spoken to eachother I’d like to think of you as a dear friend.” He glanced at sans to find him staring at him patiently with wide eyelights. “...I hope you feel the same.”

When the mer realized he was done talking, he smiled again and pet his hand twice before pulling away. He gave a musical, low chirp and sans tentatively scooted away from him, looking conflicted. He crooned deep in his chest and sent a pulse of magic to Papyrus that made him tear up with it’s bittersweet taste. _Thank you._

The mer looked up at him with one last fond look before slipping into the water with red, only looking back once before sinking into the water with a splash of that beautiful tail. 

And they were gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> violence, attempted kidnapping, child endangerment


	16. reintroduction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> that's the end! thank you for all the support, it really means a lot c: 
> 
> i'm still debating writing some oneshots for this fic and if i do i'll add it to the series. 
> 
> no warnings for this chapter c:

Undyne and the kids tried their best to get Papyrus to have fun but he was sulky for the next few weeks, not that he’d ever admit it. Everyone seemed to agree that he was well within his rights to sulk, afterall, his new friend was gone, Sipyon just got fired from his childhood home and his dad had gotten into huge trouble, but at some point it had to stop. 

He gradually warmed up to people again and the next two months were a blast. However, now that it was their last week there, he seemed to mellow again. As usual, they went down to the beach everyday upon Pap’s insistence. While he was most likely hoping to hear from his mermaid friend again even he knew that was highly unlikely to happen again. 

Their last night there they were all watching a movie in their hotel room when Papyrus quietly excused himself. Padding down to the beach, he walked all the way to the last place he had seen sans. He had no idea why he was so distraught over this. After talking with Undyne about it they had both come to the conclusion that sans was the last tie he had to his dad, who Papyrus was sure hated him. He couldn’t be too sure if that was exactly why he was upset - oh well, something to bring up in therapy once he gets back. 

He sat again at the shoreline in his pajama shirt and shorts, hugging his knees to his chest as he stared out at the water. In this part of the sea there was phosphorescent algae speckled among the waves, glowing a mesmerizing, brilliant blue at night. He was so entranced he didn’t notice the blue glow get brighter right next to him until there was a chirp right by his side.

“NYEH!” Papyrus flew back in his surprise, tipping backward until he fell, his skull dipping beneath the waves briefly before he was yanked back up by a slimy hand. Spluttering, Papyrus shook his head vigorously, trying to get all of the water out. When his vision cleared he was greeted by the image of a grinning sans leaning over him. His voice left him for a moment before he realized the mer was laughing at him and his indignation grew, as did the blush on his face. “Not funny!!” 

sans stuck their tongue out slyly before reclaiming his personal space, pulling Papyrus to sit. The situation caught up to the land skeleton and he squealed, bringing the mermaid into a bear hug. “You’re actually here! I was certain I’d never see you again!” he hugged them until growling filtered into his theoretical ears. “Oh!” he gasped when sans was yanked back by their disgruntled mate, who nuzzled them aggressively all while glaring at Papyrus. 

sans said something to them, and judging from red’s reaction it wasn’t very nice because they seemed to pout and reluctantly receded back into the water. Turning back to him, sans rolled their eyes, then reached into the bag Papyrus recognized from the day red carried the eggs away. From it they withdrew two grey boards of some sort, each with what he could only assume were words scratched into it. While he had no idea what they said, he thanked them for the gift regardless and this time, it was sans who initiated the hug.

The mer held on tightly until red growled something and sans pulled away, once again rolling their eyes. Their hand remained on his arm and they patted it twice before dragging themself to deeper water. Flipping to their back, they waved to him with a bright, laugh-like chirp then dove, red not far behind them. 

Utterly shellshocked, Papyrus waited a moment before standing to follow his footprints back up to the hotel. 

~*~*~*~

Undyne and Papyrus spent their last day in this town visiting various people. They dropped the kids off at their moms house and stayed a while for some pie - as if anyone would willingly miss Toriel’s pie. After a yummy breakfast they drove to the outskirts of the city where Sipyon now lived in a small rustic house. 

They were each welcomed with warm hugs and ushered to a sitting room. Soon they both had tea and snacks, happily munching away as Sipyon chattered about their new job. 

“It’s weird, all these years I missed caring for you, I never considered daycare,” they mused and sipped their own drink. “I always imagined going back to inhome care for another kid but while I was looking I got an offer for one, and I figured, why not check it out?”

“I’m so happy for you!” Papyrus cheered. “And it’s so cool you get to be a lead teacher right away!” 

“Well, apparently the minimum requirement was two years in childcare and I’ve had eighteen,” he laughed. 

“That’s super cool!” Undyne grinned, who had downed her tea like a shot. “I volunteered at Toriel’s school when I still lived here and the kids were a riot! Did you know I can bench press seven children?”

Sipyon blinked. “That’s…. great?”

“Yeah!” 

Gaster, although sour about his loss, had kept his word and wrote a good recommendation for Sipyon, who got off scot-free from their attempted egg snatching. 

After listening quietly while every party relayed their side of the story, the Judge quickly made their ruling. Undyne, Papyrus and Sipyon were innocent in all of this, as they had been acting in good faith. Asgore was no longer in charge of the science division. Toriel, while no longer married to Asgore, was still queen, and gladly took over the department after word got to her what he had done. Gaster was allowed to remain Royal Scientist, seeing as how he was currently the only one qualified. She was working on finding a replacement though, and in the meantime Gaster was only to work in a monitored facility, with a team of her choosing to keep him in line. His lab back at home was moved to the new one, the building torn down. He had not been happy. 

When the two young adults bid Sipyon a farewell and drove off, Papyrus pulled the tablets sans had given him again, going back to work translating it. He had been working on it pretty much as soon as it was given to him, and he had decoded almost all of it with Undyne’s help. The alphabet was similar to fishspeak so he could at least read what was written, even if the few words Undyne tried to teach him to say came out completely butchered. 

As he worked over the last couple of sentences, Papyrus wrote down the translation in the notebook he had taken to carrying around, reading it over once more

_heyo, it’s nice to finally talk to you, that is if you can translate this. anyway, my name is sans, my mate’s is red. i literally can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done for me. neither can red, even if he’s being stubborn about it._

_i’m not sure what your name actually is, i’ve just been calling you sweety… i hope if we ever get to talk again i can learn your real name; i want to name one of my kids after you. everyone is really appreciative of me being home and i’ve been making sure to tell them how you’ve helped. your friend too actually, thank them for me please._

_uh, anyway. red and i talked about it and i want to visit you again sometime. we’re gonna wait until the eggs hatch, though, just to make sure they’re ok. the healers have been saying they seem healthy but we can’t help but be a bit paranoid._

_the eggs should hatch in about four months, but they can't be alone for one more. after that i want to meet. red and i will be near the surface the first week of rinsing, before the waters get too crazy to travel far. hopefully you’ll be able to get to the sans where i saw you last. i won’t be able to stay for too long because the surface gets kinda cold but we could exchange letters? it’d be cool if i could learn to read your language too._

_anyway, i’m running out of room. hopefully you can figure out what this says and meet me when it’s time. i’m looking forward to it. -sans_

Papyrus teared up a little bit everytime he read it. He wasn’t 100% sure when sans wanted to meet but he had been researching how seasons affected the ocean and he was sure it was in August sometime. Figuring out the logistics of writing a water proof letter for sans had proved puzzling but he knew it would find the answer. And sans! His guess had been spot on! 

Closing the notebook after reading it aloud to Undyne one last time, he sighed, tipping his skull to rest on the glass as they made the long drive home. 

When he got back to school he’d double check with some language majors to make sure he had gotten everything correctly and possibly narrow in on the time sans wanted to meet but there was one thing for sure; Papyrus would figure it out and eventually they’d meet again.


End file.
